


Riddles of Life

by bornforwar_archivist



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-31
Updated: 2006-12-31
Packaged: 2020-03-13 16:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18944650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bornforwar_archivist/pseuds/bornforwar_archivist
Summary: By SummerAfter "Motherhood", Ares is allowed to travel with Xena and her friends. Sure enough it's difficult without his powers, but he has an unexpected helper - Hera. The Queen of the Gods had watched the scene of Olympus and decides to give Ares a chance to retrieve some powers for his love for Xena. Unfortunately, that means that he must remember the 'Riddles of Life' in order to summon the powers.





	Riddles of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Delenn, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Born For War](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Born_For_War), which closed in 2015. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in March 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Born For War collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bornforwar).
> 
> Disclaimer: Xena, Ares, Gabrielle, Eve and Argo are not mine (so sad but true) but there ARE property of Renaissance Pix. No copyright infringement was meant in the making of my story .....yada yada yada. 
> 
> Sex: If you want to put it in, go ahead. I've set the scene in several places 'nudge nudge, wink wink' ;) but the one when I truly mean that it's there is at the end of chapter 10. 
> 
> Violence: Yes. A Xena episode is not a Xena episode without it. It's an essential to any fan fiction. 
> 
> Profanity: Nope, Nada, Nothing, Ziltch, Zero, Zip 
> 
> Love Disclaimer: Yeah, you could say that. This is my first go at a sort-of romance so if it sucks, that's the reason. It's all about Xena and Ares - the only acceptable relationship in the Xenaverse (NO ARES/anybody or XENA/anybody EVER IN ANY OF MY FANFIC.). Have I sent my point across? Xena and Ares are MEANT TO BE - why can't the writers see that??????!!!!!!!! If you don't like this - go to another story. Oh, and there is a tiny hint of Eve/Virgil about the place too but it's not too important. 
> 
> PLEASE DON'T STEAL MY IDEAS. IF YOU ASK ME THOUGH I'LL SAY GO AHEAD. 
> 
> Author's notes: Today I watched the 5th series episode "Purity" and I came up with a story from changing several important parts. You won't be able to figure out the routes from Purity but it's the truth - I gained inspiration from watching the coolest show on earth. I'd like to thank the writers of Xena for making "Purity" for us Xenites. That episode ROCKED!!!!!!!!! Now I've said that, you can start my story! YEAH! By the way, Succession never happened in my fan fiction. Although it helped Gabrielle feel better, it isn't very fitting for one of Xena's encounters with Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome before this story occurred. Plus, I hated that episode- it went against everything I believe in. The writer of the story was a heretic of the Xena/Ares shippers! And just to make things more difficult and complex, it takes place directly after "Motherhood" (which I haven't actually seen yet so bear with me readers). Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Alright - story starts now - enjoy!

Chapter 1.   
  
The view was fantastic from the top of Mt. Olympus. The sun rising sent streaks of orange, red, yellow, light pink and baby blue light through the sky like lightning bolts. Emerging from the horizon was the Chariot of Helios, the mighty, golden disk in the beautiful, serene sky. At the foot of the mountain, tall thickly forested trees of pine and cedar created a green canopy, shielding the forest floor from the heat of the sun. The legendary home of the gods loomed majestically in the middle. On one of the many huge rocks on Olympus sat Ares.   
  
Ares stared into space, looking at the world he was about to plunge into - as a mortal. To him, this whole new world he would discover was ... different to the way he had viewed it in the past. Despite the incredibly beautiful scenery, he couldn't take in the splendor of his families creation. His entire family and all of his friends - thanks to him, Xena and her pesky, irritating little blonde chatterbox - were dead, and it was all his fault. They'll never be around ever again, not even Aphrodite, his beautiful, loving, caring half sister who was the only one (excluding his grandmother and the woman whom he desires more than anything) who knew him properly underneath all of the dust he had covered over himself to shield his real self from the world like the canopies of trees below him. _WHY??????_ was all he could think. _Why did I have to fall in love with THAT ONE? Why did I have to betray my entire family - no, entire RACE - just to save the woman I love who won't even look twice at me? Why couldn't I just accept the fact that she doesn't care about me? Why did I even have to meet her in the first place? Why did I......_  
  
He threw at himself all of these questions and many more, hoping to find answers but he couldn't find them inside. He shook away all of his thoughts and looked again at the tranquil forests and mountains in front of him, trying to retrieve energy and power from the view ... then remembered he was mortal again and swore a particularly nasty curse under his breath to himself for being so stupid. He looked down at himself - the torn leather vest and pants, his boots now really dirty, his sword pendant slightly tinged crimson from his own wounds... the list went on. Usually he would never let himself look like this but it wasn't like he had anything left to loose but his life.   
  
He stroked his fingers through his short black hair. Why? He carefully checked his wounds to see if they were healing properly. His right hand wound - from that fight with his warrior princess he was forced to participate in by the other gods, his cut on the leg made by the arrow that Xena gave him when his arrogance had gone just a bit too far, the tiny cut the warrior made on his neck twenty-five years ago when he killed Eli...... It all brought back memories - painful memories. He remembered back further when Xena had ripped him apart in Amphipolis - and she had enjoyed it. Back further to when Xena and Hercules joined forces against his family and killed Zeus. Back further to when he had deceived Xena once again and went after Gabrielle just to try and make Xena jealous on that fateful week when he killed Eli and sealed the destiny of his family, and then when he had become a traitor on Olympus when he'd joined up with Hope and Dahak, the Furies thing..... all the way back to that little village Xena risked her life to save when she was only 16. So young.   
  
"Ares? Ares? Are you okay?" a concerned voice appeared from behind.   
He snapped out of his dreamscape and returned to his conscious state. He looked over his shoulder to see Xena behind him with a solemn expression on her face. A small smile tugged at the sides of his mouth. "Yeah, I'm right," he said quietly. He beckoned her to come and sit with him. She sat down beside him on the rock and looked at the sunrise. "Nice lookout you've got here, Ares," she smiled. "Yeah, nice. I've never seen the world this way before - so beautiful yet so dangerous and wild, it reminds me of someone I know," Ares chuckled.   
  
"Ares, about what you did in there. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for saving my daughter and Gabrielle. You saved me too - I won't forget that. Thank-you. You placed my happiness in front of your own and you risked everything you had just for me, Eve and Gabrielle to survive. That takes amazing courage to do that. You don't know what that means to me. Gabrielle, Eve and I have all agreed that you are entitled to whatever you want from us - anything. It's your choice," Xena looked him in the eyes.   
  
_But I can't have what I want! I want you! The whole package!!!!! I wish you could love me in the same way I do to you and that we could be together with nothing else in the middle of us! That's it!_ he thought. He was going to ask her to do just that but he thought against it. _I can't force her to do what she doesn't want to do._ Instead he said, "I'd like to travel with you and Gabrielle. I want to fight for your cause." Xena thought for a few seconds and slowly nodded her head. "Okay. Are you ready to leave Olympus?"   
  
"Not yet. I have to get a few things from my palace and I have to perform a proper burial for my family. It's the least thing I can do since I was basically behind their deaths. Then I can go," Ares sighed.   
"Do you want us with you?" Xena asked   
"Only if you insist. There won't be much to see except for a whole lot of funeral pyres. It'll be pretty boring."   
"Do you want us with you?!?!?!" she asked again firmly   
"Only if you want to!!!!!" he answered again, equally firm.   
"I wish you hadn't stopped being decisive!" she interjected.   
"I'm thinking about you!" He almost yelled. He suddenly stopped short and turned his eyes away from hers.   
  
"Ares?" She said quietly.   
"Yes?" Ares turned around. He was met with a long, long, long, long kiss. He was stunned. "What was that for?" Ares asked curiously. "I call it love," She smiled. His now-mortal heart skipped a beat. "Love?" "I think so." "You think or you know?" "I know." _Yes!!!!! Oh Chronos yes!!!! This is a dream! It must be a dream!_ Ares' mind was celebrating. But he kept his mouth shut and gazed into her pale blue eyes. All he could see was sincerity, joy and love. He grinned the-grin-that-melts-women-like-cheese and held her close to him. "I love you too."   
  
"What do you need for the funeral?"she asked, once again solemn.   
"Funeral? What funer- oh that one. Um, some wood - kindling would be nice, a torch, rocks, rope and that's it," Ares finished. "I'll get the bodies myself."   
  
  
Ares walked into the Olympian Palace. This place had been his home for thousands of years. It nearly broke his heart to have to leave it but it was inevitable. Ares remembered back to when he was twelve and he had run away from home in rage - back then he was glad to leave but this time seemed very different. First he went to his room on Olympus and gathered a few of his belongings he would need - a tunic, bedroll, comb, bag, belt, boots, his cash (he had started saving money when he found out about the Twilight of the Gods.) and a few little things which he'd been given a long time ago (just to remember who he used to be - the mighty God of War. The undefeatable, invincible, Immortal Warlord who was one of the most powerful gods of all Olympus.). He got it all and set the bundle beside the heavy stone doors of his bedchamber. Then he slowly dawdled into the main hall. Immediately, visions and images of a few hours before took his mind by storm. Images of Athena and Xena fighting each other. The other gods, one by one being blown up by Xena's god-killing powers. Athena's voice echoed through his head.   
  
"What's the matter bro? Worried about your girlfriend?"   
"How did you heal her without my blessing?"   
"Our father is dead and Xena's child is the key," invaded his head over and over again. He violently shook away the memories and focused on the job that lay ahead of him. He first took Athena and brought her over to the firewood that Xena and Gabrielle collected. Then he took Artemis and then Apollo and then Hades and Zeus... all of Ares' family had been taken to a certain place in Olympus. Xena had decided that she didn't need to be with him - he needed to be alone.   
  
  
"So? Did you tell him about our offer?" Gabrielle asked Xena. Xena, Gabrielle and Eve were outside the palace getting dinner organised. Eve came back with her arms full of firewood and dropped them at her mother's feet. Gabrielle was preparing the ingredients for dinner while Xena was supposed to be making a fire but instead she sat there dreamily. She snapped out when Gabrielle started talking.   
  
"Yeah, I told him."   
"What did he say, mum?" Eve asked.   
"He said he would like to travel with us."   
"Okay, we are now a foursome! We seem to be rapidly increasing our numbers!" Gabrielle laughed.   
"Ares should be ready soon. Then we can leave."   
  
_Man, I'm so glad I told Ares about how I felt. If I kept on lying to him I wouldn't be able to live any longer_ Xena smiled.   
  
"Hey girls!" Ares jumped up from behind them. "Night's falling. I won't be able to get it all done today. Come on. You can stay in the palace."   
"Oh, we can't accept that," Eve said.   
"Yes you can. Take advantage of this situation. You're the first mortals to ever get up here and it's not as if anyone else is going to stay in Olympus again!" Ares insisted.   
"Okay then. We can't give up luxury, can we girls?" Xena smiled.   
  
Ares stayed in his own apartments, Gabrielle stayed in Aphrodite's, Xena in Discord's and Eve in Artemis'. The girls were glad they followed Ares' advice. The rooms were amazing! Each room felt like an acre long and the beds were like clouds. In the morning, they had breakfast and then they all went through the palace doing things. Ares continued preparing for the burial rites, Xena explored the terrain outside the palace, Eve practiced her combat skills and Gabrielle went through the Immortal library to check out all of the scrolls the gods kept.   
  
The library was huge. Thousands and thousands of scrolls were piled high all around the room. They were all written by the gods themselves, excluding a couple from mortal poets and philosophers like Plato, Homer, Socrates and many more. Many of the ones written by gods were either journals, stories or just archives of knowledge from when they created the world. They were very complex because the gods knew everything about the earth. Even Ares had written tonnes of scrolls, mainly journals, poetry, war commentaries and a couple of incredible stories. A very interesting read Gabrielle had that day, let me tell you!   
  
  
Anyway, Ares had prepared everything for the little funeral he was starting. Gods can't be buried so Ares had to burn them. In the room were tonnes of firewood stacked up in bundles with the gods positioned over the wood. Over each one was a long piece of linen. A coin was put into each of their mouths for Charon, the ferry-man of the dead (he didn't know if he still lived either but it was a Greek custom which he had to abide by). Ares murmured quietly a few sentences of the Book of Hades. Each sentence in the book sent the gods to the afterlife properly, sending them directly there, missing out all of the trials normal mortals would have to pass through.   
  
When he'd finished, he lit the bundles of wood and watched the fire grow until he couldn't see his Immortal family. He sank to his knees and continued on with the Book of Hades. When he'd read the entire book, he set it aside and whispered a few things he wanted to say to each of them, knowing that the dead can hear people's thoughts. A tear slowly created a thin track of water down the side of his cheek, which he wiped away quickly but another one replaced the first. He felt the hundreds of years of emotions he'd kept professionally hidden falling agonisingly slow.   
  
He wanted to tear himself away from the scene but couldn't move. He was stuck there as if he had turned to stone. He thought of each death of the people being burned in from of him - Hades burning in flame, Hera killed by her own husband, Zeus by Hercules, Strife by Callisto, Aphrodite recently from poison Athena had secretly mixed for the goddess of love to die because of her alliance with Xena, Athena on the tip of Xena's sword, Poseidon blowing up, Apollo, Discord, Artemis, Hephaestus and all the others, now before him - their souls being released into the air with the smoke, making their way to the Underworld.   
  
He stood there, watching the fire until it had died down entirely. Then he took the book back to the library and went to Xena. "I'm ready to go....."   
  
Chapter 2.   
  
"Ares? One question: How do we get down?" Eve asked. Ares, Xena, Gabrielle and Eve looked down from their position on the mountain. It was a very good question. "I don't know."   
  
"What do you mean you don't know!" Gabrielle asked. "You've lived here your entire life and you don't know how to get down?"   
"We always teleported to where ever we wanted to go. I guess we could climb down the rocks with the ropes or we could go through the tunnels - no, they don't exist anymore. The ropes are the only option but it's very dangerous," the Ex-God of War said irritably.   
"We're used to danger, Ares. Let's go," Xena assured him.   
"Okay then. Let's get on with it," Ares smiled back at her.   
The foursome tied the ropes to the great big rock that Ares sat on the day before and then tied the other side of the rope to themselves. They slowly moved down the rocky mountain face holding onto the little crevices. When they got down as far as possible with the rope, they held on really tight and yanked down the rope from the top of Olympus and retied it to another rock before going down further. It took them an extremely long time to get down and when they did they hurriedly built a fire and collapsed on their bedrolls in exhaustion.   
  
In the morning, Ares woke up first and went to catch a few fish from a river nearby. When he came back, Xena was awake, cooking eggs she had obviously already found. "Morning Xena." "Morning Ares." "I got some fish for breakfast." "Great." and on went their conversation. Eve woke up slowly and started rolling up the bedrolls. Gabrielle slept in as always but woke up when Xena yelled her warcry, which echoed through the forest, for Argo the Second and Gabrielle's-Still-Unnamed-Horse the Second to come to her from the middle of the forest. "Xena, I don't know how I've put up with you over the years for waking me up every morning like that." Gabrielle moaned as she sat upright in her bedroll. Xena, Ares and Eve were sitting relaxed on logs eating their fishy breakfast and eggs. "Come on Gabrielle! Don't act like a tantrum-throwing baby and eat your breakfast before we do!" Ares joked/warned. She drowsily got up and started eating her breakfast.   
  
"So, mum. Where are we going now?" Eve asked after just finishing her mouthful.   
"Well, I think we should go to Ioclos. It's the closest major city to Mt. Olympus and it has an enormous market for Ares, a harbour for me to get a ship organised for us to go to Olympia and a famous blacksmith for Eve's bag and Gabrielle's sai," Xena decided.   
"Sounds toasty. Let's move," Ares smiled. He took one last look at Mt. Olympus before getting up. He couldn't see the palace - it had disappeared altogether.   
  
Xena and Gabrielle washed and stuffed all of the cooking appliances into the saddlebags before mounting their horses. Ares and Eve carried anything that couldn't fit in the saddle bags and walked alongside the horses. They all knew it would be a long day of travelling.   
  
"Amber."   
"Cloe,"   
"Sabre`."   
"Achaea."   
"Onyx"   
"Storm." the group brainstormed.   
"Nah. I want my horse's name to be something powerful and energetic but at the same time beautiful and simple," Gabrielle explained.   
"But they are powerful and energetic but beautiful and simple!" Ares protested.   
"Yeah Gab. I don't see you thinking up any names for your own horse!" Eve muttered.   
"Alright, that's enough. We've been walking for a long time and we're all tired and short tempered but just calm down!" Xena yelled above the others.   
"This'll help us calm down," Ares' voice was dripping with sarcasm as a bunch of men jumped out the branches above them. They all ran in and started fighting. There where ten bad guys altogether. They all separated from each other and divided themselves around the foursome. At the end of the fight, seven were dead and the other three were wounded badly. Ares walked up to one of them with a large incision in his stomach and pulled him up by his black cotton tunic. The man's eyes were wide in fright as Ares glared into his eyes, and then he displayed a surprised look. "What do you want with us?" Ares whispered menacingly. "I-I-I'm from your mother," the man stuttered.   
  
Ares pulled the man off the ground by the scruff of the neck and asked again,   
"I'll say this again. WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US!!!!!"   
"We're from your mother!" the man cried again.   
Ares dropped the man with a thud and looked down at him as the man scrambled to his feet. "My mother's dead."   
"Maybe so, but not her spirit. We have access to her soul. She wants you to come to Olympia,"   
"You don't even know who I am. How do you know my mother?" Ares was getting irritated.   
"We know all about you. You are Ares, the God of War, and you're mother is Hera, Queen of the Gods. We are part of her army." the man proudly said.   
Ares smirked and said, "Ex-god of War, and Mummy doesn't have an army."   
"Not one that you know of anyway."   
"You callin' me a liar?"   
"No! Listen, Hera still has her worship and temples. We are from her temple in Olympia. She wants you to come." the man said.   
  
"What is your name?" Ares asked.   
"Gutharius, my lord."   
"I'm no ones lord anymore. I'm just a mortal like anybody else. Tell my mother that I'll be there but soon, but I have places to go," Ares said quietly.   
"Yes, my lord-" Gutharius said. He learned quick enough from Ares' glare that he needed to correct himself if he wanted to keep his teeth. "- I mean, Ares. I'll go as fast as I can."   
Ares smiled - he still had his talent of freaking people out. "Good. Now scram!"   
At that, Gutharius and his (living) mates ran for it.   
  
"Good one Ares!" Gabrielle laughed.   
"Okay. Let's keep on moving, shall we? You don't mind if I pop into Mum's temple for a few minutes, do you Xena?" Ares asked.   
"No. In fact, by the time we get there, the Olympics start. We can watch the games!" Xena smiled, sheathing her sword. "Let's go. We should be able to get a big chunk of our journey to Ioclos done by nightfall."   
  
A week had passed by the time they got to Ioclos. The place was like a huge harbor, as Xena said. Thousands of jetties and decks were all over the place. Crowds of people were all over the joint too, either selling something, haggling or buying. Other people were busking in order to make money. The foursome split up into two's to look around. Xena and Ares went off to the markets to look around and buy stuff while Gabrielle and Eve went looking for the blacksmith Xena was talking about to fix their stuff.   
  
"What do you think?" Ares asked, showing Xena some clothes he'd found at the market. It looked allot like his old clothes except newer and better.   
"Cool!"   
"I don't really think I should stay with black and silver anymore though. I need a change."   
"Ares, black and silver are your trademarks. Abide by them."   
"What about a dark blue. Like this one. That's pretty cool too."   
"Ares. It's your clothes - but try it on. You will agree with me on this one. Black and silver are totally you."   
"Alright. I'll try them on."   
Xena smiled at her success. Ares looks good in everything he wears - probably because he's so good looking! He came out in the stuff Xena suggested. "I admit it - you were right. I look best in black and silver. Okay, let's pay," Ares smiled.   
  
The pair walked up to the man selling the clothes. "How much for the boots, shirt, cloak and pants?" Xena asked. "The boots, shirt, cloak and pants? One hundred dinars," he said before returning to his work. Xena cringed at the price; so did Ares. It was a fair price but Ares had seventy dinars and Xena had nothing. "I'll handle this," Ares whispered, grinning mischievously.   
"One hundred dinars? ONE HUNDRED DINARS!!!! I was only going to use these rags for my job - I'm a painter, you see? The money is NOT worth it. You're ripping me off! One hundred dinars, huh? Oh well. I saw the same garments in the stall over there. They'll have a lower offer. They have the best prices guaranteed! See ya!" Ares said, beginning to walk back into the changing rooms.   
  
"Make an offer!" The man said quickly.   
"Twenty dinars."   
"Forget it!"   
"Bye!"   
"Eighty dinars!"   
"I'm leaving."   
"Sixty dinars!"   
"Come on Xena."   
"Fifty!"   
"Uh uh."   
"Thirty five!"   
"Twenty!"   
"Twenty-five!"   
"Twenty-two!"   
"Done!!" The man yelled.   
  
Ares reached into his purse and pulled out the money. The man took the money with glee and put it in his own purse. Ares grabbed his bag and started walking out of the tent where the haggling had taken place. Xena stared at him. "Holy Hera!" she exclaimed. "What?" he asked with an expression on his face which made him look as if he'd flunked pre-school. "Twenty-two dinars down from one hundred? Gabrielle will be shocked! Where did you learn to haggle like that?" Xena laughed. He took her hand and led her out of the tent.   
  
"When you have to get good prices on weapons and food to feed thousands of men, you have to have extreme low prices. The only way to do that is haggle like crazy. I once paid for an entire fleet of ships filled to the brim with grain (including the ships themselves) for one thousand dinars! It took me all day haggling with a merchant from Egypt in that war!" He laughed.   
  
"Gee, I'm starved! Are you?" Xena asked, rubbing her stomach. "Oh yeah! Let's go over there - those meat thingies look very tempting!"   
  
Not long after Ares and Xena had finished eating as much as they could possibly fit in, Gabrielle and Eve came back with their belongings fixed and carrying a few bags of things they found in the markets. Xena told them the story of Ares and his fight to buy his clothes. Gabrielle demanded to learn all of Ares' secrets and so they all sat down to listen to Ares talk about all of his little strategies, except for Xena who had to go and organise a ship to take down the coast of Greece, past the Isthmus of Corinth and Peloponnese Peninsula, around to the Western coast of Greece where they would stop and go from foot to Olympia.   
  
When Xena came back, her friends had already pitched in to organise two rooms in a large building for them to stay in for the night and unpacked their things. Gabrielle and Eve were already asleep while Ares stayed in his room practicing a few sword techniques. Xena opened the door a crack and watched him. A few minutes later she opened the door completely and walked in. "Practicing Ares?" she asked. For a split second he looked embarrassed but it faded quickly. He sheathed his new sword (which he got for ten dinars down from fifty) into his (original) scabbard and smiled. "Of course," he grinned.   
  
Ares started taking off his weapons and unnecessary items and put them in a neat little pile beside his bag. Then he walked over to the windows and opened them to let in a breeze. Xena walked over with him and held him close in her arms. From the window, you could see the sea's tide, endlessly washing in and out over the golden sand, and all of the little lights - both the stars and the torches from the boats. The pale white chariot of the moon, ridden by the silver, glittering titaness, Selene, was right in the middle of the night sky. "Let's go for a walk along the beach," Ares suggested.   
  
The pair walked along the strip of coast around Ioclos. They put down their boots (which they had been holding while they walked along the beach) and lay down. Xena held Ares firmly around the waist and rested her head on his chest. "We picked out a good spot - there's Sagittarius, Orion, there's the North Star and Draco..." Ares said quietly, pointing out the major constellations. "Since when have you been an astrologer, Ares? How do you know that sort of stuff?" Xena whispered. "Because I used to live there...in the heavens. We didn't just live on a mountain- in fact we didn't live on a mountain at all. We lived in an invisible world in the sky. No traces of its majesty can be seen except the stars at night. Plus, all of the stars represent stories - particularly about my family, and we knew all of the stories of ourselves and where they were located in the sky," Ares explained quietly.   
  
"Do you miss living with your family on Olympus?" Xena asked quietly. "No. I'd prefer to be with you than having everything I could ever want. Even loosing my Immortality and powers was worth having you in my arms," He whispered into her ear.   
  
"Well, we might as well go back now," Xena said after a while. "Yeah," Ares agreed. "We're gonna get sand in my pants if we don't go soon!!!" He joked and they both laughed hysterically. So they got up and raced each other down the beach to the place they were staying at for the night. They burst into their room, slammed the door, got undressed into their bed-clothes (OK HELP ME OUT HERE READERS! WHAT WOULD THEY WEAR, HUH?), ended the day with a goodnight kiss and fell asleep quickly.   
  
  
Chapter 3   
  
Xena woke up, early as usual. A ray of light from the sun came through the creme` curtains covering the windows. She looked around slowly. The arm around her waist indicated that Ares was still there - and sleeping. Xena realized that these were some of his first few hours of sleeping in the millennia's he's lived through because gods don't sleep (well, the can but it's difficult. It's not all that fun). Xena decided not to wake him and slowly got out of bed. Ares stirred slightly but remained asleep. Xena quickly got dressed into her leathers and went to Eve and Gabrielle's room, making sure the door wouldn't slam.   
  
Walking down the hall, Xena bumped into a messenger who had a letter for an Ares and Xena. She took the letter and began to read. It basically said to hurry up and get to Olympia fast because Hera is getting impatient. She told the messenger that they would be leaving on a ship to go to Olympia that day and she dismissed the messenger.   
  
Xena went on her way to Eve and Gabrielle's room. Surprisingly, they were up and dressed and packing up all their bags. They were ready to go and Gabrielle was bracing herself to be horrendously sick on the voyage. Once Xena had checked up on her daughter and best friend, she went back to her room. Ares was up, dressed and reviewing how to rig sails and tie the proper knots for the ship. He noticed her walk in and he stopped what he was doing. "Morning my sweet," he said happily. "Perfect sailing weather - sunny sky, calm waters and a favourable breeze heading south. It'll be an easy voyage; maybe not for Gabrielle but we'll get there very quickly."   
  
"Indeed," she smiled - Ares was totally getting over his family. Fantastic. "We leave in an hour - that'll give us time to get some breakfast and get out of here."   
"Yeah. I'm getting hungry - breakfast is on me!" Ares laughed and picked up his bag full of stuff. Walking past Gabrielle and Eve's room, Ares knocked on the door to tell them that they were leaving. He continued down the hall with the girls behind. He paid for the accommodation for the night and kept on walking. Xena and Gabrielle went to the stables to get Argo2 and Gabrielle's horse2, leaving Eve and Ares to find a good place to eat.   
  
One hour later the foursome boarded the ship and set sail. As Ares said, the sailing was calm and smooth but despite that fact, Gabrielle still got sick - about twenty times in the first hour. Because of the wind they got a long way in one day. When night fell, Ares dropped the anchor into the sea and they all went to sleep in the cabins.   
  
Unfortunately, clouds had risen overnight and in the morning the sky was covered over by dark grey clouds. And in the afternoon, they had a rather rough storm hit them. The winds and sea tossed the ship over the waves like a toy. Despite their efforts, they ended up wreaked on the island of Lemnos - totally off course. Luckily, the island was thickly forested with good trees for timber and they were able to get sailing cloth and tools from the people of the island - all women. They were all looking too close at Ares for Xena's liking so she made sure they got away quickly. After a long, long day of working away at the ship, Ares yelled that he had finished his repairs and they could go. So the foursome began to board the ship and leave but the people of the island didn't want them to leave. So it was made much more difficult to leave because they had to dodge thousands of arrows, but they made it out successfully. Ares nearly kicked himself for not remembering were they were - a weird cult of women who sacrificed men to their evil demon gods inhabited the island of Lemnos, which was why they desperately wanted to keep Ares there.   
  
They got back on course quickly and raced to their destination. It took them a month to get to the west coast of Greece. They got the ship to hug the Peloponnese until they got around to the large bay in the coast. They moored the ship in the bay and after a few days of walking at a quick pace, they reached the city of Olympia. Olympia was Zeus and Hera's patron city - and the Olympics were held there every four years in their honor.   
  
"Wow! What a place! It's huge," Gabrielle exclaimed as they all looked around the place. Many, many, large, white buildings were neatly placed along streets. The running track, named the Hippodrome, was off to the left and other sporting buildings were around it. An amphitheater was off to the right where some sort of speech was taking place. People walked casually down the streets looking at the markets and performances. Statues of Zeus (very, very inaccurate sculptures but it's not as if the artist could actually see the King of Immortals himself) and Hera (extremely close to her actual appearance) were erected in front of the temples. The entire city was made of white concrete (an invention from the Romans that was too good to not adopt) and white stone.   
  
"I wonder if I should compete," Ares thought out loud.   
"They're honoring your parents. I think you should," Gabrielle stated.   
"Well, it's really your choice, Ares. If you want to strip off to your bare flesh and run around the Hippodrome, that's fine but us!" Xena joked.   
"Well.... running isn't my best event. Long jump, discus, javelin and shot-put are my majors... who cares? Nah, I'll just watch. All you get for your troubles are laurel wreaths and fame. What's the point? Anyway, I'm going to go and find the temple of Hera. I'll meet you by the amphitheater tomorrow at ten in the morning," Ares said and walked off. Xena, Gabrielle and Eve went to the markets to find something to eat for lunch and a lodge to stay for the night.   
  
Ares spent until nightfall looking for the temple. For such a large temple to an important deity, it was located in a very difficult place to find. It took a long time to find the temple and it was getting cold so he wore his heavy cloak. When he did find it, it was about seven at night. "Damn architects!" Ares muttered and walked up the stairs to the large doors. Two big cauldrons of fire stood to the sides of the door. Two armed guards opened the doors for him and he walked in. The outer sanctuary was an amazing sight. Ares realized that he'd never been there before. The blue marble floors were incredibly cold; Even through the soles of the leather sandals strapped to his feet he could feel it. The walls were inlaid with gold which shone like the sun from the candles which were everywhere you looked. A large stone altar was to both sides of a large pair of stone doors; each one holding offerings.   
  
"Excuse me sir?" said a voice from behind. Ares jumped. Behind him was a priest. He looked about fifteen years old. The priest had long, brown hair and wore a pure white tunic and leather sandals. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to startle you. I am a priest of the almighty goddess, Hera. I welcome you, son of the Queen, to Her temple," he whispered softly. His voice cut through the still air like a razor.   
  
"Thank-you. You're rather young to be a priest," Ares stated.   
"I have been in the service of the Queen since I was old enough to walk. My father is the High Priest and he taught me all of his wisdom from a young age. You wish to go to the inner sanctuary, my lord, to find answers to your questions from your mother in spirit?" he asked. Ares let the 'my lord' phrase go by and answered, "Actually, my mother sent for me. I don't know why I'm supposed to be here."   
  
"Oh, of course. Well, I'm afraid I can't go in there without permission from the high priest and without being fully purified. Only the High Priest and Immortals like yourself can go into there freely. You must go in by yourself," he explained quietly.   
"I'm not Immortal anymore," Ares said in a small voice. The priest looked surprised but it soon faded. "Regardless of what happens to you, you were Immortal and are an honored, chosen man. You can still go in there freely because you still have Immortal blood," he assured Ares. "You can pass through these doors. Inside the inner sanctuary, you are in the presence of her spirit. She will speak to her son."   
  
Ares nodded slowly. The young man smiled and practically vanished into the darkness. Ares slowly opened the doors. A faint blue smoke came out. There was only darkness within the inner chamber. Ares nervously went through the doors. The doors slammed behind him, making him jump. He stood still - the wind stirred as if flowing around him, checking him out. The wind stopped and a great big fire suddenly illuminated the chamber. Ares found himself face to knees with the largest statue he had ever seen. The golden statue matched perfectly with his mothers looks. She wore a long, beautiful chiton and her extremely long hair was pinned up in an elaborate, Greek bun. In that statue, Hera looked stunningly beautiful - Ares had never noticed it before. Flowers were all over the floor before the goddesses' feet.   
  
Instinctively, Ares kneeled before the statue. He pulled down the hood of his cloak and started to whisper: _Hera: My mother, my refuge, my protector and keeper of all of the days of my life. I have journeyed here to be in your celestial presence. You sent for me and I am here. Speak to me._   
  
" **Ares, my son,** " a voice whispered. Ares froze. A chill crept up his spine. It was a feeling he had never felt before. " **Ares** " it whispered again " **arise, my son.** "   
  
Ares stood obediently, looking for where the voice came from. The voice came from the statue itself. The statue came alive and said: **Ares. I've been waiting for you and watching you. I saw what you did to save Xena. Before you ask, you are not in trouble. What you did was the most noble, romantic thing I have ever seen. Xena is very lucky to have a man like you. If only your father was as faithful and caring as that.... Now, my son. Although you did go against your family, you did what nobody else in our family would have done - Therefore, I'm granting you a chance to get your powers back - not your godhood or immortality but just your powers. But you have to work for it - Do you remember when you were a child - about five years old - when your grandmother, Rhea, would tell you those little rhymes at night before bed and she told you to memorise them? I believe that they were called the Riddles of Life?**   
  
Ares stood their frozen. "Yeah. But I don't remember them, if that's what you're asking."   
Hera continued: **Well, you need to remember them all and say them in the same sequence as Rhea would say them while holding your amulet/pendant. Only then will you get your powers back.**   
  
Ares cursed under his breath. "But how am I supposed to remember them all - I was five!" Ares protested.   
**Use your initiative, Ares. You'll think of a way. Watch your language, by the way!** Hera laughed. **Good luck, my son. Try your hardest and you'll succeed.........**   
  
Hera returned to her inanimate golden statue. _Great_ Ares thought. "You realize your quest then?" the High Priest asked from behind. _How do these guys appear out of nowhere?_ Ares mused. "You should stay here for the night. Here, in the inner sanctuary. We shall bring in a bed for you to rest in," the Priest suggested. Ares nodded slowly and gazed up at the statue.   
Chapter 4   
  
Ares woke up in the inner sanctuary of the temple of Hera where he had stayed. A priest had been assigned to watch over Ares until he woke up. The priest greeted Ares as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"Ares yawned. "By the sundial in the city, it is five minutes to ten," the priest said, handing Ares his breakfast. "FIVE TO TEN!!!" Ares shouted. He kicked himself for sleeping in and hurriedly got dressed into his clothes and ate the breakfast the Temple of Hera had provided. Ares quickly thanked the priests and priestesses of the temple and ran to the Amphitheatre as swiftly as he could.   
  
"Where's Ares?"Gabrielle asked. Simultaneously, Xena and Eve looked at the sundial in the amphitheater. It just reached ten in the morning when Ares ran up, panting.   
"Morning Ares!" Xena smiled. "What happened at the temple?"   
"You won't believe it. I...." Ares recounted the experience with the statue in the temple the night before.   
"So. How are you going to remember the Riddles of Life?"Eve asked.   
"I don't know. Wait a minute - I do know how. We can go to Rhea herself!" Ares said.   
"Ares, if you've forgotten - she's dead. She has been for thousands of years. You should know that. She sent herself to Tartarus for siding with Zeus against her husband, Chronos. We can't - Oh, no your not!" Xena said.   
"Where is that lake that reaches the Underworld?" Ares asked.   
"Not far from here - what am I saying?!?! You're not going to the Underworld! Are your powers really worth it?" Xena asked him as if he was insane.   
"Well they'd be quite useful, don't you think?" he said sarcastically.   
"Okay then. But only if I come with you," Xena smiled.   
"Xena, it's too dangerous. I can't take you with me. I can't endanger you for my own purposes. I'm going to split up from you girls. I'll see you soon - I'll meet you somewhere." Ares said firmly.   
"Well, if I don't go, you don't go. Simple, clean and not open to negotiations. I'm not splitting up from you and you're not going alone."   
"Fine. You can come with me,"   
  
"Xena! Are you suggesting that I have to sit patiently on dry land AGAIN? So let me get this straight: I have to stay here once more while you go off to visit dead people with a dangerous, manipulative was-god guy and I have to baby-sit your twenty-five year old baby?" Gabrielle asked. She was slowly filling up with anger.   
  
"I resent that!!!!!" Ares and Eve said together. At the same moment they said "I'm not a baby!" and "I've totally changed!"   
  
"Yes Gabrielle, I am saying that. We will be very quick, I promise,"   
"Yeah right- that's what you said last time, and I was waiting for a week!!!!!"   
"Well at least you have some company this time!" Xena said sternly.   
  
So Xena, Gabrielle, Ares and Eve went to the lake where years ago, Xena had swum to the Underworld to save Marcus. They were only walking for half of the day to get there and arrived at lunch time. They quickly had something to eat and began talking. About an hour later, Xena and Ares took off their boots, weapons, and other not-as-essential stuff they were wearing and waved goodbye to Gabrielle and Eve. Then they waded into the lake and dived in. They swum through the cool water until they became unconscious that they where swimming anymore.   
  
When they snapped back into the realm of reality, they were in a cave. The cave had a low roof which slowly ascended as they plunged deeper into the cave. Jagged stalactites decorated the ceiling. Mist covered the floor like a cloud. The pair looked around to figure out how they got in the cave; they saw a wall of water covering the entrance of the cave. Fish and other species of marine life watched them - they seemed as though they were confused and curious and wanted to see all of the action. Xena and Ares realized that all they could do was go forward into the darkness of the cave.   
  
They walked forward through the cave, occasionally stopping to help the other up from falling over the rocks, until they came to a river. The waters had uncomfortably black mist rising from the immortal river of death and decided to wait for Charon, the ferryman, to come and take them across the River Styx. Soon enough, the boat came across to carry them over the the Land of the Dead. The boat was completely covered with bones and rags, and the boatman didn't look much better. Charon had an incredibly pale face, black gaping eyes, bedraggled hair that reached his knees, scrawny limbs and wore blood-drenched rags for clothes. He held in his long-nailed fingers his oar that he used so often to come and take people over to the other side. He wasn't very surprised to see Ares waiting.   
  
"Ares!" Charon rasped in his croaky voice. "You're here! You not all that popular with your family right now, are you? Athena spread the word about you giving up your immortality to save Gabrielle, Eve and Xena," he tsk-tsked and shook his boney fingers. "Naughty Ares! Anyway, who killed you? Xena? Did she stab your back too?"   
  
"I'm not dead and neither is Xena. She decided to let me live and change - which I have," Ares answered confidently.   
  
"Xena? Oh Xena! I didn't see you there in the darkness! My, I must say you look stunning in that outfit, not that you aren't stunning without it..." Charon rambled when he noticed Xena behind Ares.   
  
"Thank you," she muttered.   
  
"What are you guys here for, anyway?" Charon asked.   
  
"I have to see Rhea. It's important," Ares answered.   
  
"Rhea? Well, if you want to see her, you'll have to travel right through the levels of the Underworld, from the Elysian Fields to the darkest pits of Tartarus. She was pretty hard on herself, ya know? And you have a whole lot of relatives who really don't like you who'll try to stop you from your way. By the way, I need cash!" Charon warned.   
  
"We don't have any money on us. We left it all in the realm of the living," Xena said quietly.   
  
"Can't we just pay you back when we really come here to stay?" Ares asked.   
  
"No, no, no! I'm tired of IOU's. I need proper stuff - coins, trinkets, any form of currency! I just need money. I'm going broke! I refuse to send anyone across if they don't pay. No one goes by without paying the fee... unless they feel like swimming!" Charon protested.   
  
"I think I'll pass!"Ares said. He patted himself down to find something. Sighing, he pulled off his pendant and handed it to Charon before Xena could remind him that he needed it to get his godhood back. "That's all we have," Ares said quietly. His head sank to the floor; giving away good luck charms were not exactly his favourite things to do. Charon studied the pendant's intricate markings - he recognised the back as the Seal of Hera, which happens to have a curse on anyone who takes it from its rightful owner. He thrust it back to Ares. "Keep it. You'll have better use for it that I," he said and opened the door of the boat to let Ares and Xena in. They sat down and waited patiently for Charon to get over to the other side. Ares returned the pendant to his neck and watched the view.   
  
Ares was about to trail his hand through the water as he looked across to the other side when Charon slapped his hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned. "Why?" Ares asked. "Let's just say that it's so hot it burns and that you'll have a scalded hand which is invulnerable to anything for the rest of your life," Charon said quietly, returning to the oars. Ares nodded his head and kept his hand away from the side just in case he got tempted to do it (Ares is a rebel at heart- say "Don't do it!!!" and he'll probably do it, despite what it was!).   
  
The boat jolted violently as the boat hit the rocks on the other side. "I really have to stop doing that!" Charon muttered, examining his ferry. "Well, out you hop. Ride's over. You DEFINITELY owe me when you two come here for real!"   
  
Xena and Ares got out of the boat and thanked Charon for the ride. "Watch out for your family! They aren't too happy with you!!!!" Charon yelled as they ducked through the low roofed door of the cave.   
  
As they ducked through, they immediately felt lighter. They were in the Elysian Fields. The fields were greener than you could imagine; greener than the BGSB. Flowers were everywhere and there were lots of animals too. A waterfall was off to the side with the clearest water within. People were all over the place wearing brightly coloured clothes, enjoying themselves under the brightly shining sun. Compared to the people of the Elysian Fields, Ares and Xena looked like evil incarnate in their soaked black leather. The place was simply stunning. It was a beautiful place which offered a great lifestyle for its inhabitants.   
  
"I dunno if I'd want to live here. It's a bit too quiet, don't you think?" Ares whispered to her. She quickly agreed and they kept on moving. They went through many, many, many different types of places and Xena began to get tired of it. "How many levels of the Underworld are there?" Xena began to get irritated.   
  
"A lot. If fact, every single God and Goddess get their own little world, deep in the Underworld. Even lower than Tartarus! Immortals stay for a very long time until they're reincarnated into a new body and do the whole thing over again. We don't have all of our powers but some of us get things like telepathy and many Immortals have the power of clairvoyants in the next life. Some are even lucky enough to get telekinesis, but that's extremely rare. We should come across Athena's little place very soon. After her come all of the gods in order going backwards from their death. Be careful; I'm betting it'll be very dangerous," Ares explained.   
  
Xena and Ares suddenly stumbled across Tartarus. Xena and Ares walked through quietly. Fire pits were everywhere and lava flowed through streams. People were cut off from the path by the magma streams being tortured. They all had their own torture they were forced to endure for eternity. Their cries of anger, frustration and anguish filled the air. Not a particularly nice place. Xena and Ares hurried through Tartarus and braced themselves to meet Athena.   
  
Xena and Ares crept through hoping to not catch Athena's attention. Athena sat on her knees in tears in the middle of the room. The room was very dark with a few candles flickering as the only light. Shadows were thrown across the place, making the shadows of people she detested. The shadows talked to her in low voices; their soft voices joined together as a choir of sounds and floated through the air - definitely creepy. Athena muttered curses and words of hate quietly to herself. "I'll have my revenge when I get my new body. I'll find their souls." was the only words they could make out.   
  
The pair tiptoed across the room to the door on the other side. Athena stopped here crying and looked up. Her eyes glowed with hatred and she screamed out "YOU TWO!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!" and ran towards them. Xena and Ares dodged the lightning bolts Athena was throwing and ran to the door. "You can't hide from me, Ares! I will have my revenge on you, Xena!" she yelled out to the leather clad pair as they raced through the door. The tumbled through quickly and ran for it.   
  
They went through many, many different rooms filled with Immortals, some were friendly, others weren't as nice. The last person they met that Ares had known was Strife, the first god to die. Ares had a short chat with his nephew and then they moved on. After Strife was Chronos, Zeus' father whom he overthrew. Ares always had a good relationship with his grandfather so he was quite friendly. After Chronos was a place for nymphs, sprites and other creatures like that - Rhea was next.   
  
Chapter 5   
  
The door to the next room was rocky and small. It was shaped like a jagged arch with chisel marks around the edge. Ares explained that the chisel marks made sure that Rhea could never come out and she was trapped there for eternity - she'd been very harsh to herself. Xena and Ares got down on their hands and knees and crawled through.   
  
On the other side of the door, the light became much brighter. Rhea might have been hard on herself but she still had a damn good place to stay. Flowers and trees etc. were everywhere - you couldn't tell the difference between Rhea's place and the Elysian Fields. Sitting in the middle of the room was Rhea, playing around with flowers.   
  
Rhea was a very good-looking woman. She had beautiful, curly blonde hair reaching her hips, pale skin and bright blue eyes. She had a slim waistline and long, finely toned legs. She only looked about thirty-five at the most, only a few years older than the form that Ares took, yet she was supposed to be Ares' grandmother. She wore a pure white chiton with a pearl girdle, golden sandals and an almost-transparent silk wrap across her back. Her blonde hair was kept back with a pearl clasp. Rhea looked behind to see who had entered her domain. A bright smile spread across her face when she recognised who it was.   
  
"Ares! My grandson! It's so good to see you! I haven't seen you since you were three!" Rhea laughed and spread her arms out to greet Ares. Ares returned her hug and replied, "I haven't seen you for so long that I'd forgotten what you looked like!"   
  
"My, my, my - you've grown! How old are you now?" she asked, as any grandmother would.   
"Uh........ I have no idea! I'm quite old now, but that's all I can tell you," Ares laughed.   
"Well, aren't you going to introduce your friend here to me?" Rhea asked.   
"Oh! Rhea, this is Xena:Warrior Princess. Xena, this is Rhea: my grandmother," he introduced the women.   
"It's a pleasure to meet you Xena," Rhea grinned.   
"The pleasure belongs to me, Rhea, for finally meeting you. I've heard a lot about you these last few days," Xena stated.   
"Xena.... you're name is quite familiar - are you the Twilight Xena?" Rhea asked.   
"Yeah, that would be me," Xena's voice faded.   
  
"I've seen you with Ares while I've been watching him. He's very lucky to have you," Rhea looked at them both.   
Xena sighed in relief. "Thank you."   
"And to you Ares, that was incredible what you did for Xena. Your immediate family doesn't understand it but I do - you must be extremely devoted to her to give up your immortality," Rhea remarked. To that, Ares just smiled.   
  
"I've kept a close watch on you, Ares, just to make sure you were always safe. Your father was a real loser to you, wasn't he?"   
"To everyone," Ares agreed.   
"Although I've been protecting you, I never figured out your position in Olympus. What was it?" Rhea asked.   
"That would be God of War," Ares said quietly.   
"Oh Gaia! But you had nothing to do with war when you were younger - of course you learned the arts of war but you never had it in you to be the god of it! What a stupid decision from your father!" Rhea exclaimed.   
"Well, I guess I grew into the position and got used to it. I've done some horrible stuff in the past," Ares said.   
Silence. "Well! Enough of all that! What did you come here for ... you're not dead are you!" Rhea's eyes shone with concern and fright.   
  
"No, I'm not dead. I need to talk to you about a few things." Ares brightened up.   
"What sort of things, sweetie?" Rhea asked.   
Ares cringed slightly at the name and he told her about the experience he had at his mother's temple. "So you basically want to know if I can help," Rhea said slowly after hearing the whole story. "Yeah," Ares said nervously. Rhea said nothing. "Do you remember them?" he finished quickly. "No, I do not," Rhea murmured.   
Ares laughed, "You expected me to remember them when you couldn't remember?!!!!"   
  
Rhea smiled from ear to ear."I just knew they would come in handy to you. Why I didn't remember either is a mystery. I knew them all perfectly before I sent myself here."   
  
"Me too, before I became God of War. Well, do you know any memory tips for me to use?" Ares asked hopefully.   
"Yes, I do. It only works for people in the realm of the living. But here's what you have to do: You must find a root from the henna plant, get your amulet pendant, find an altar, some herbs and spices - anything will do - and some sacred water from the river of Mnemosene, Goddess of Memory. Get the henna extract, the herbs and the sacred water and mix them all up together until it's a paste, sort of like a cosmetic cream. Sit on the altar, hold your pendant in your hand and spread some of the creme onto your forehead, chest and hands. Then go to sleep and in the morning you'll be able to remember everything from your past vividly," Rhea instructed.   
  
"Okay. Ares should be able to remember that, won't you Ares?" Xena smiled.   
"Sure I can! But if not, Xena will be able to remind me, won't you Xena?" Ares said smart-alecly.   
"Well that's good. Good luck to the both of you!" Rhea exclaimed. "But there's still one question - how were you two planning to get back?"   
  
Xena and Rhea looked at Ares. Ares mumbled to himself, debating to himself how to say properly that he had no idea how without hurting his pride. "Um, ah, well, uh, I didn't think about that." _Yeah! Go Ares! Talk about complete failure to complete a task!_ Ares' mind scolded him.   
  
"Oh dear, I'll have to send you away. Good-bye Xena. It was a pleasure to meet you. Bye Ares! Good luck!" Rhea smiled. She held her dainty hands out, palms forward, and a vibrant purple glow emerged from fingers. The purple force spread around Xena and Ares before disappearing into their bodies. Slowly they began to fade.   
  
The next thing they knew, they were swimming again along side each other. Together, they swum like hell up to the surface and gasped in air. Ares and Xena tread water with their legs as they looked around. It was evening and they were in the middle of the lake. The splash that they made created ripples throughout the lake. The water suddenly became cold.   
  
Gabrielle and Eve saw them and waved. Xena and Ares waved in reply and swum over to the shore. The warriors pushed their hair out of their eyes and slowly walked over the the two women waiting for them. Eve took some towels out of the saddle bag on Argo2 and gave it to her mother and Ares. They wrapped themselves up tight in the towels and sat beside the fire to keep warm.   
  
"So....how did it go?" Gabrielle asked, sharpening her sais. Xena nudged Ares in the stomach with her elbow. "I'm too tired to tell the story," she whispered. Ares nodded slowly and rubbed his eyes softly. "I'll tell it then but forgive me if I fall asleep in the middle of it," he yawned. Eve chuckled and said "I'll go hunting. Get something to eat for us all. I'm sure Gabrielle will tell me the story when I get back. She'll be bursting to tell someone," before taking a bow and a few arrows.   
  
When she had disappeared into the forest, Ares began the story. He went right down to the very last detail and seemed determined to keep it going until he had finished even if it killed him. To his surprise, Gabrielle followed every word he said and was basically trying to memorise his story. She said that it was so that she could tell it to Eve without missing anything. Gabrielle kept asking questions through the story, to make sure she got the whole thing. _I thought she still didn't like me_ Ares' mind thought.   
  
Xena was still sitting beside him, holding him close, after he finished his story although she was very, very tired. Gabrielle had long since retired to bed and Eve had already returned with food for dinner. They had all eaten until they were incredibly full before saying to each other Goodnight. She rested her head on Ares' chest and asked him, "What do you think will happen to us in the future? I mean us. Relationship-wise." Ares looked into the flames of the fire, dancing and leaping in beautiful, unpredictable patterns as he thought. Ares smiled and looked down at her.   
  
"I think, or at least hope, that we will be together for eternity. Nothing will get in our way. We will have total faith and trust in each other and nothing will be powerful enough to break it," he answered. Xena looked up at him. "You think that we were meant to be?" she whispered. "Yes. Absolutely," he said firmly. "So do I," she said softly, looking into the flames.   
  
"You know, it was no coincidence that we met, Xena. It was fate. I was drawn to you in ways I never knew back then and-" Ares was interrupted by Xena. "Don't think of the past! Whatever happened back then will not affect us anymore," she assured him. Ares smiled. "You've got me all figured out haven't you?"he said. "Yes, I have, but you haven't figured out me!" she grinned mischievously and kissed him full on the lips. "Completely unpredictable," he murmured and he kissed her back, lightly at first but it rapidly grew far more serious.   
  
  
The next morning they all got up late. Xena went fishing with Ares and together they pounced a couple of trout and carp. They bought the fish back and quickly brought it back to their camp to cook it. Gabrielle cooked it (it's not as if Xena or Eve can cook and Ares said that he could cook but Gabrielle decided not to take the risk. "Your loss" he had said.) and once she was done, they sat down to their usual breakfast of fish and eggs. Ares and Xena sat through Gabrielle's retelling of Ares' story. When she finished telling Ares' story, Ares asked "Where are we going today?" "We're going to get the things you need to get your memory back so that you can get your powers," Eve and Gabrielle said together. Ares looked at them in the eyes. "I mean, it's the least we can do," they finished simultaneously.   
  
"Okay then, we need a root from the henna plant, spices and herbs, sacred water from the River of Mnemosene, an altar and we already have Ares' amulet pendant. Ares and I-" Xena started but she stopped and froze. Ares had done the same. "What is it?" Eve asked. "Someone's here," The pair of warriors said together. They simultaneously stood up, drew their swords, backflipped behind a few paces, picked up a man by the shoulders of his armor, pulled him up into the air and pressed their swords against his neck. Gabrielle and Eve found out that the legend that the God of War and the Warrior Princess really did fight as if they were one was true.   
  
Xena identified the man, "Virgil!!!!!" Ares groaned. They sheathed their swords and dropped Virgil to the ground. "What are you doing here?" Xena asked. "I came to see you, Xena. I had a vision about my father telling me to come to you. I decided to follow it. Joxer said that I must help you help a friend of yours receive powers from somewhere. He didn't give me much detail," Virgil answered. He displayed a particularly dirty look at Eve and cold, calculating smile at Ares. "Well" Xena said "our friend who we're helping is Ares."   
  
"WHAT?!?!?!?!" Virgil exclaimed.   
"Hey!" Xena stood in Ares' defense. "Ares lost his powers by going against his family in favour of us. He gave up his Immortality to save Gabrielle and Eve! We are helping him restore some of his power and if you don't like that - tough! We didn't ask you to volunteer for helping."   
  
Virgil lost the angry expression on his face. "You - you did that? For Gabrielle and Eve?" he asked.   
"Yeah, I did," Ares looked back at him. "Virgil, I know I did some of the most stupid, idiotic stuff the world has ever seen, and I was one behind your fathers death but if I could change anything in the past, it would be the stuff I've done to all you guys. Okay?" he asked Virgil. Virgil slowly nodded but it was written all over his face that he didn't like it. Ares sighed.   
  
"Alright then, Virgil. You can come with us," Xena said before explaining all that had happened. "Now, as I was saying before Virgil came" Xena continued, "Ares and I will go to the River of Mnemosene to get the water and we'll find the Henna root. Virgil, Eve and Gabrielle - you have to go to allot of markets. We need to get some spices and herbs for the mixture. Get as many different types as possible but only small amounts of each. We will meet at Ares' biggest temple in Crete in about two months. It'll take about that long to get what we need."   
  
"Why Crete?" Gabrielle asked.   
  
"Because in Crete, there is a HUGE complex of temples right next to each other in Knossos. It's the most religious Greek spot in the world. Right beside Ares' temple is the temple of Hera and the temple of Aphrodite. It'll be very helpful," Xena explained. She turned on her heel and picked up their demented frying pan and put it in Argo's saddle bag; Xena winked at Ares in the process to tell him that that wasn't the only reason why Crete.   
  
"Okay. We have a plan," Eve nodded. The five of them all packed up their stuff and were soon ready to part on their journey. Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil said good-bye and headed north. Xena and Ares waited until they were gone. Ares asked Xena with a mischievous/curious grin "So why are we really going to Crete?"   
  
Xena gave him a seductive look. "Now, I could be business-like and say that the other reason was just because that the river of Mnemosene is in Crete and that Henna is a major plant growing there with the help of a whole league of Indian merchants. But then again I could be.....unbusiness-like..... and say that the reason is that Crete is one of the most romantic places in Greece and that we will only have to take a ship there and we are there in two weeks and it'll take another two weeks to get everything we need for our little concoction - so we have four weeks to ourselves for our own fun and games - if you get my drift," Xena said, sliding her arms around Ares' neck and looking into his deep, brown eyes. Ares held her tightly around the waist and said equally as seductive "I think I do 'get your drift'," before their lips met in a deep kiss.   
  
Chapter 6   
  
Xena and Ares rode on Argo to the capital city of Greece - Athens. They decided to spend as long as possible travelling by themselves to have fun - and they did. Every once in a while they would stop for a while and enjoy the views or have a swim or just talk and they had a lot of fun just by themselves. But their little one-day moment of carefree life ended when they reached Athens. They had a job to do - get a boat to sail the approximate distance of 270km from Athens to Crete.   
  
The pair reached Athens in the evening. Ares hated to give credit to his half-sister, Athena, but her city was breathtaking. It was a huge complex of majestic white buildings with tall pillars and statues situated all over the place. To the northern edge of Athens was the acropolis - a high area, sort of like a cross between a mountain and plateau country. On the top graced the Parthenon - Athena's largest temple and shrine in the whole world. Below the acropolis lay the rest of the city, underneath the shadow of the enormous golden statue of Athena inside the Parthenon - dead or alive, Athena always protected her city with all of her power. Persia never defeated the Athenians because of the protection of the gods. Once Persia did conquer the Athenians under King Darius but Alexander the Great, protected by the gods, won back Greece and conquered the Persian Empire. His empire stretched from Egypt to India but it fell and faded when he died.   
  
Off to the right of the acropolis area were markets, shops, homes etc. all made from the uniformly white stone used for the Parthenon, sort of like Jerusalem in the kingdom of early Israel, and to the right was a group of Senate houses, all for political matters of state and all of the temples. Ares' second largest temple in Greece was located there too. Called the Areopagus (hill of Ares/Mars), the temple was partly for worship and partly for wars itself - peace treaties, attack plans, defense, legions of men and so forth were all discussed their by Ares himself, his commanders, his admirals, builders, Senators from the Athens government, financial ministers and many others.   
  
Xena and Ares decided to get some food first and then stay the night in Athens. They could get a boat early in the morning, leaving time to sail all day. So they went to the market first.   
  
"What's for dinner then?" Xena asked. The warriors walked down the streets of the markets, hand in hand, looking for a good place to buy some food. All around them were stalls with salesmen advertising their shops. The sound, together with the crowd of people populating Athens, was deafening.   
"What was that?!" Ares yelled over the crowd.   
"I said 'what's for dinner?'!" she asked again.   
"I have know idea. Perhaps some food would be nice!" Ares joked.   
"What about that stall over there? We haven't tried there," Xena suggested. Ares shrugged and led the way over.   
  
A few minutes later, the noise had radically decreased. Many shop owners were closing down. Xena and Ares thought that outside the city, it would be quieter and they could get a better view from there so the went outside the gates of the city and sat down underneath a few trees and started eating the food they bought from the stall - roast lamb and rice; it was fabulous. When they'd finished, they lay down and watched the sunset until they knew it was absolutely necessary to get up and hire accommodation.   
  
Later that night, Xena was looking out once again into the night sky through the window. Ares had long since fallen asleep and she did her best not to wake him. She glanced at him to make sure did hadn't stirred when she opened the window before looking back into the night, pointing out the constellations Ares had told her about in Ioclos. Suddenly she realised how cold the wind was, especially in the long, thin, almost-lacy garment she was wearing, so she closed the window once more and shut the thin curtains over the glass. Xena turned on her heels and walked over to the table at the back of the room. She picked up her brush and stroked in through her raven tresses a few times. Xena looked into the mirror and wondered _I bet Athena isn't pleased that we are staying here!_ Suddenly, Ares was behind her with his arms around her waist. Xena tensed.   
  
"Ares! I didn't hear you get up," Xena relaxed and set the brush back on the table. Ares smiled from behind her. Xena looked back into the mirror. Now both of their reflections were visible. Ares whispered into her ear, "For once. I've never been able to sneak up on you, but now I'm mortal, I can finally do so."   
  
Xena felt a chill up her spine. "Ares - you're wrong. I can still sense you. Whenever you're around, I feel different. In a way I can not express. It's our bond that we share, an-"   
  
"An unspoken bond none can suppress," Ares finished her sentence.   
"You read my mind, Ares."   
"And you read mine," Ares whispered in reply.   
Xena turned around to look him in the eyes, still kept tightly in Ares' firm grip. In the dimmed light, Ares looked somewhat different - sort of as if Ares was part of the darkness itself. It was incredibly familiar to what Xena always saw in the mirror of herself. As if she belonged there. Her azure blue eyes and his deep, capturing eyes both seemed illuminated in the faint light of the candles in the room. They stood there looking at each other for a while until the candles suddenly burned out. They both sighed and got into bed. They held each other in the night until Morpheus' kingdom took them into it's hands.   
  
In the morning, Xena wearily sat up on the bed. Ares was already up, strapping his sword into place and getting dressed. He stroked his fingers through his hair and turned around. "Good morning, Xena!" he said. "I trust you slept well?"   
  
"I did, thank you," she smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "What have you been doing while I was asleep?"   
"Watching you," he answered.   
"Sounds boring," Xena murmured. She picked up her bag and took out her leathers.   
"Not really. It's more of a pleasure," Ares smiled. "Your beauty over-rides anything boring about sitting down, my sweet."   
Xena smiled and put on her boots. "You flatterer."   
"I speak the truth," he said, pulling her close. Xena kissed him once again, this time a prolonged one and whispered "Why did we get separated in the first place?"   
  
Ares said sternly "You said yourself not to speak of the past. But it was because you wanted to go to sea and I didn't, we had a fight and you left."   
"It just seems so stupid that we split. I mean, right now it's just pure bliss, as it was before I went, and look what we've been missing over the last couple of years," Xena shook her head.   
"Those couple of years was just less than half a century - it was a very long time without you - and I don't know how I coped without you by my side," Ares said matter-of-factly.   
"Ditto," she said and turned to the mirror to do her hair. She remembered the night before with a smile and picked up her bag. "We should get going now - catch a boat."   
  
A little while later, Xena and Ares walked across the jetties of the Athens harbour, searching for ships they could hire to take to Crete. Fishermen lined the decks, occasionally pulling up their catches and putting them in a bucket of water, casually talking to themselves about nothing. Several ships were moored and tied alongside the wood planked jetty with gangplanks ready to take passengers on board. Each ship was made of light brown timber and had light blue sails. Eyes were painted onto the front of the boats - an obvious trademark of Greece and its style.   
  
Some ships had oars and large frames, others had the frame and weapons on board for a warship, a few had small light bodies decorated with flowers and material for cruises and others were merchant ships with large storage cabins for its cargo. It was difficult to find an appropriate ship for the job, but they soon found a good ship, not to bulky, for them to use capable of being manned by two or three people. And it was very cheap too. Xena and Ares just hoped that it was of good quality.   
  
The sun shone brightly that day; even in the early haze of morning, the heat beat down like a tonne of bricks everywhere and the oppressing humidity of the suns glare was overpowering. Shade seemed like a myth or an incredible dream.   
  
The man who sold the ship fitted together the gangplank for Xena and Ares to board the ship. The pair quickly got on and prepared the vessel for leaving the harbour. When they were organised, Ares pulled up the anchor and Xena pulled down the sail to catch the wind. A sudden burst of luck rewarded them as a gust of favourable wind blowing south filled the sails. Ares mouthed "Thank you!" to whoever or whatever felt like helping them reach their destination. Then Xena steered a course to Crete.   
  
Xena and Ares were going to take the quickest route to Crete by taking the straight arrow way passing the Cyclades Islands but decided that because the had enough time, they'd take a joy ride through the Cyclades to do a bit of sightseeing around the beautiful Greek islands. Haste makes waste. So far, they had encountered nothing but smooth sailing and hoped to keep it that way. Whoever it was protecting them from harm, they were doing a damn good job. Xena asked Ares who he thought it was and he said simply "Relatives."   
  
On the second night of sailing, Xena was up in the crows nest watching the stars. Xena glanced below her, watching Ares let down the anchor and make sure that the ropes were properly secured. After a while, Ares climbed the ropes up the mast to check up on her. "What's up?" Ares asked casually. "Nothing much," Xena sighed. He rubbed his arms and muttered, "Aren't you cold?" To that, Xena just laughed. "No, I've got this freak thing with cold. I don't seem to feel it unless it is below the freezing point." Ares shook his head, "Not even in high altitude, huh? I guess it's probably me who is cold and no one else would feel it. It's just my mortal temperature thing kicking in. I have to acclimatize myself to this sort of thing."   
  
Xena smiled. "Yes. Mortality. And I haven't and won't forget about that," she assured him. Ares stared off into space for a moment, just thinking. Soon he regained his consciousness and suggested,"Well, let's go to the cabin and we'll have something to eat." Xena agreed and they both climbed down the ropes of the mast. They jumped from the ropes to the deck with a thud and dawdled over to the other side of the ship to the trapdoor/stairs which led to the cabins.   
  
After their dinner of bread, fish (you'd think they'd get tired of it now, don't you think?) and hot soup, they suddenly felt an extreme wave of exhaustion which slowly led to them both walking half asleep over to the bunks to have a good sleep. Nothing could have prepared them for what would happen the next day.....   
  
Zeus walked around his little world in the Underworld. He himself had only just found out about Ares' traitorous alliance with Xena against the other gods. _What an arrogant, self centered b@#$% &*_ Zeus thought. _Make the other gods die while he save the so-called woman he loves! How dare he! And what's really stupid is that he ended up with a girl when the rest of us ended up with death!_  
  
Zeus cursed softly under his breath. If Zeus was alive, Ares would already be bound and be screaming in pain as he was burned for eternity. But Zeus knew that he couldn't do that..... and that sparked a brainstorm. _I can't punish him that way, but I can send someone to punish him! Brilliant Zeus!!!! I'll see what they're doing!_ Zeus thought in sheer delight.   
  
The Once-King-of-the-Gods happily waved a portal and said in his most evil laugh, "Show me Ares!!!!!" Immediately, an image appeared in mid air. Zeus watched in anger as he saw his son lie down and go to sleep peacefully with his lover beside him. Ares' happiness was basically radiating from his body and it infuriated his father to watch. Zeus shook in rage. He screamed out, "OLYMPIANS!!!!!" and at his command, his doors opened and in came the dead gods of Olympus - Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Athena, Hephaestus, Artemis, Hades (ironic, especially because he was King of the Underworld), Demeter, Dionysus and Aphrodite.   
  
"What is it, father?" Athena smiled sweetly. She already knew. "I WANT ARES KILLED!!!!!" Zeus roared. "Don't we all?" Hades muttered. "I don't," Aphrodite said quietly so that no one could hear, but Athena did hear and she said, "Oh, shut up you b$%#!!" Aphrodite went red in the face. "I'll do whatever I want, Athena. The reason why I'm here is because you murdered me so I'm going to spend eternity trying to make you p-!" Aphrodite began but her husband Hephaestus covered her mouth and said, "'Dite, my dear, please! We don't need name calling right now. I myself am on my wife's side - my half brother only followed his heart and did what he thought was right, which is what we've been trying to get him to do for years! He was only partly responsible for killing Athena and that was it. You can't punish someone for loving someone."   
  
"Then you can both stay out while we do what we're doing," Poseidon smirked. Aphrodite began to protest but couldn't because Hephaestus' hand was still firmly fixed over her mouth. "That's enough!!" Zeus silenced his family members. "The question right now is this : Ares is on a quest to find something and someone in this room has contacted him. Cough it up right now, whoever it is. NOW!!"   
  
"I have no idea who it is," Hera said, just to back up that it wasn't her. "Husband, you have no proof that anyone here is a traitor. Why don't we just leave Ares alone. If you ask me, I think what he did was very romantic and courageous."   
  
"Well, my queen," said Apollo, "I think it would be wise if everyone here helped us punish Ares so that no one will have the chance to be a traitor, whether their heart is in the right place or not."   
  
"Good idea," Dionysus agreed.   
  
"That settles that then," Zeus clapped his hands. "I shall create thunderbolts, Hephaestus - make some weapons and binds, Athena - make a shield for the mortal we are going to send to kill them, Poseidon - give us some wave power, Hades -we need your death spells, Artemis - we need hunting tools for our mortal and Demeter can give some of her weather power," Zeus addressed. "Ares will wish he had never been born."   
  
Hera, Aphrodite and Hephaestus looked at each other in worry. They were forced to agree by the others. They all gave up their powers and put them together in the middle of the room. It looked like a giant force field. Hades spoke up when this was done. "Who are we gonna use for a death host?"   
  
Poseidon answered Hades, "We need someone who is an enemy of Xena's, a man very powerful in life, strong, who is capable of using ships and armies and has a lot of support...."   
  
Altogether they said "Caesar..."   
  
Chapter 7   
  
The Immortals disappeared and entered another part of the Underworld (thanks to Hades for stopping the shield around the mini-world). Reappearing, they came to a certain place where conquerors and lawgivers met their end - they were all kept together. There was Alexander the Great, Phillip of Macedon, Pericles, Ptolemy I , Ramses II, Antony, Brutus, Cassius, Cicero, several emperors from Chin, Phoenician naval commanders (the list goes on and on and on and on and on...) and in the middle was Julius Caesar. These conquerors and lawgivers sat around talking or practiced combat skills, but all the time, they were boasting to the others about their provinces that they attacked and all of their victories - unless of course the person they were defeated by was sitting next to them.   
  
The gods walked over to Caesar in single file. Caesar, who had been sharpening his short sword and telling Alexander the Great about the Gallic War (in which Caesar conquered Gaul), looked up in amazement and shock when Zeus tapped his shoulder. "Zeus," Caesar whispered.   
  
"You guessed wisely. I am Zeus, King of the Immortals. I wish to offer you a, what would you call it.... proposition. It has to do with Xena and Ares. Caesar's eyes lit up. "Xena? Didn't I crucify her? Don't tell me she escaped again! Bloody, no good, untrustworthy soldiers!" he muttered.   
  
"Yes you did crucify her, but as you should know by now, Xena was resurrected by a certain ELI," Zeus informed him. Caesar went red in the face. "I ORDERED HIM CRUCIFIED TOO!!" he said angrily. "Eli escaped without a nail-through-the-hands-and-feet. Ares killed him a few months after your death."   
  
"Then why do you want Ares killed?" Caesar asked. "He's a god, isn't he?"   
"Not anymore," Zeus spoke. Caesar shot a confused look at the Immortal group.   
  
Athena stood next to her father. "Eli started up the theme of the Twilight of the Gods - a time when the downfall of the gods comes about. Ares killed Eli, thinking that it would help it stop but it just made it worse. Xena fell pregnant shortly after she was resurrected and she had her baby. This baby actually brought about the death of the gods. And to cut a very long story short - Xena tried to save her baby and Gabrielle from us and tricked us into believing that they (including Xena) had died. Ares had fallen in love with her and -" Athena paused, seeing the dumbfounded look on Caesar's face. "- I know, we didn't believe it either. Anyway, Ares put Xena and Gabrielle in an ice tomb and froze them for twenty-five years, without knowing that they were alive. Ares couldn't find the baby because the baby that had died was a doll. He had managed to corrupt Xena's daughter - Eve - not knowing it was her because she changed her name to Livia. Basically, Livia became good again, fulfilled her prophecy through her mother and here we all are - except Ares. Ares gave up his immortality to save Eve and Gabrielle, therefore allowing Xena to kill the last god when Eve briefly died - me. Ares is now travelling with Xena, Gabrielle and Eve."   
  
"The b@#$%^!!!" Caesar exclaimed.   
"Now, we want you to go back to earth to stop them. We will bestow upon you power and weapons in your fight against them. If you are successful, we will return your life. If you fail, you will return here and stay with the knowledge that you will never be able to defeat a woman," Poseidon finished.   
  
"I resent that!" said Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Discord and Demeter together.   
"Sheesh, sorry!!" Poseidon muttered. Knowing that the situation was going to get ugly, Zeus started talking again.   
  
"Do you accept our offer?"Zeus said hurriedly.   
  
"Of course, my lord," Caesar said and bowed.   
  
"Good. So your mission is to kill Ares."   
"Ares?"   
"Yes."   
"I thought you said Xena."   
"I don't give a damn about Xena. Do whatever you want with her but I want Ares DEAD."   
"Yes Zeus."   
"Good. They are on a boat right now, heading to Crete. We will prepare you until dawn and then we will send you to their ship."   
"Excellent."   
"Let's go."   
  
  
"Ares. Time to get up," Xena whispered into Ares' ear. Ares was still sleeping soundly on their little ship in a bunch of pillows. Ares didn't stir. "Ares?" Xena whispered again. _What do I have to do to get him up?_ Xena wondered. She got up and lay over him. _This'll wake him up_ she thought mischievously. She lay down and kissed him softly. Ares kept his eyes shut and said in a perfectly alert manner "Morning Xena. What did I do to get that?"   
  
Xena realized that she had been suckered. "Morning Ares, you sneaky little, little- " she tried to think of a word to fit. Ares put a few words into her mouth, "Aggravating? Cheeky? Annoying? Stubborn? Difficult to handle?"   
  
"Well, they could fit, but another word popped into my mind," Xena murmured. Ares raised an eyebrow, while still keeping his eyes shut. "Like what, my little queen?" he asked. Xena looked deep in thought. "I'll just leave that to your imagination."   
  
Ares laughed and opened his eyes. "Oh... the light is blinding - or is that just the affect of looking at you?" he blinked. "You flatterer, you," she put her hands on her hips. "Dejah vu all over again," Ares murmured and pulled her off her knees playfully. The unsuspecting Xena fell down on top of her companion with a thud. "Why you - I'll have your head for that!" Xena mockingly threatened. Ares immediately shot her an expression that clearly said "OOOH! Miss tough!" Ares then said "You can have more than just my head if you want." Xena replied to him in a seductive manner, "In the words of you - Interesting Offer!!!" Xena leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his.   
  
"Lucky me, that's two in one minutes!" Ares grinned and suddenly rolled across the bed, making the pair swap positions. Ares playfully pushed her down and said in a mock-menacing tone, "You're in a difficult situation here. The battle spies report that you're at a disadvantage to your opposition, which happens to be me, particularly because your resources have been, how should I put it... pushed back. Therefore you can either brave your oppositions' strength and try to deflect the move or you can surrender now. It's your choice!"   
  
"You know, Ares? I know that I cannot go against your strength because I shall easily be defeated and I shall be stuck in this position, so I think I'll surrender my forces, call a peace treaty and we can become allies where we can become stronger together and .... become one force," said Xena.   
  
"Spoken like a true general! Your offer of peace is tempting. It sounds good to me!"Ares joked. "Good. Now that you've presently got me hostage, what are you going to do with me?" Xena asked in an angelic voice. "I think I've got an idea," He murmured and kissed her again. "That's three," Xena recorded.   
  
Xena looked as if all she felt like doing was being there. Ares decided to play with her first. "Have you checked the weather outside yet?"Ares asked, with a smile tugging at his mouth. "Yes, I have," Xena said, confused with the change of conversation. "What's it like?"   
"Cloudless sky, winds blowing south, calm seas, why?"   
Ares' smirk was wiped off his face. "Just wondering. Particularly because I thought that cloudless skies and calm seas were cloudless and calm," Ares said looking sideways out of the window of the cabin. Xena looked outside too. Ares was right - the sky had suddenly turned into a dull grey and the ship was significantly moved more awkwardly than it had throughout the entire trip.   
  
Xena pushed her concerns away and said, "Well, the reason why I came here was to wake you up to help me, so GET UP!!" Xena pushed Ares up off of her and he fell to her side. "Oh but mummy, I wanna sleep in!" Ares whined comically. Xena got up off the pillows and pulled Ares by the right arm to a standing position. "Let's go and see why my analysis of the weather has changed from what it was." Xena suggested.   
  
The pair walked slowly up the stairs to the deck. The sun had increasingly darkened although it was high in the sky by now - about ten o'clock. "It couldn't have changed this rapidly since four hours ago," Xena thought aloud. Ares looked horrified. "You were up at six in the morning?!?!?" he asked wide eyed. "Oh, shut up you!" Xena said and rolled her eyes to the sky. "This is important!"   
  
"Uh Xena." Ares said.   
"Ares, I'm busy." Xena murmured looking away from where Ares' finger was pointing wildly.   
"No Xena, you really should see this." Ares said frantically.   
"Honestly Ares! What could be that important?" Xena asked, looking out in the opposite direction into the distance for anything unusual.   
"THAT!!!!!" Ares yelled. Ares had been pointing to a colossal wave forming at a rapid pace. But the time Xena had turned around, Xena had been pushed down the stairs by Ares and the door had been slammed shut.   
  
"Ares!! Did you have to do that?" Xena asked, examining a large bruise forming on her thigh. Ares narrowed his eyes. "Trust me Xena, sometimes we all have to make a few sacrif-" Ares' last word was drowned out by a jolt of immense size around the ship. Xena and Ares were thrown across the room, along with a pile of other things. Water spurted through the windows and soaked everything.   
  
"What in Tartarus was that?" Xena voice quavered.   
"My distraction to get prepared," a cold, calculating voice echoed around the room. Ares and Xena looked around to find the mystery person. What they saw was a dry, pale, tall man step out of the darkness wearing heavy looking silver armor. Xena gasped when she realized who it was. Ares looked at the markings of the armor for a clue as to why he was there. He stopped wide eyed. "Those markings - it's a charm which makes the wearer invulnerable. It's only used by .... the gods! How did he get it?" Ares pointed out.   
  
"You'd love to know that, wouldn't you, traitor?" Caesar said to Ares with a smirk. Ares was about to say something extremely insulting but didn't have the chance. Caesar moved away and said, "Xena! We meet again. I see that I didn't kill you enough. That's the second time you survived my wrath."   
  
"Ditto. How did you come back from the dead?" Xena demanded.   
"You would like to know that too, wouldn't you. Let's just say that you boyfriend here -" Caesar began and cut Ares off again when he tried to insult him again, "-has a few rellies who'd love to see him dead, and they decided that I'm the man for the job. I even got to try out the power of the gods!"   
  
"Ironic, isn't it, that you're on a mission of assassination when that was YOUR manner of death," Ares said in a teenage tone. He immediately regretted it when he was thrown (again) across the room by a very familiar fireball belonging to Apollo. "Don't push your luck!" Caesar snarled.   
  
"So I'm here to kill your boyfriend here and then I'll kill you," Caesar finished. He threw Xena across in the same manner as Ares had. She glanced at Ares quickly - he had taken the force badly. The ship rocked harshly again with the waves that Caesar had conjured up using Poseidon's powers. Xena scrambled to her feet and a sudden jolt of pain spread up her right leg and the back of her head. Xena winced and stood up with a slightly-faltering confidence.   
  
"I will beat you Caesar, you know that. I have come out and survived all of your attacks and you have declined - today won't be different. I just wish you could've waited until we got on to land and not disturb my holiday, or at least wait until about one o'clock this afternoon when I was ready!" Xena said devilishly.   
  
"Eat me, bitch!!!!!" Caesar yelled loudly using Caesar's oratory talents used in the Roman Senate House and shot a lightning bolt (Zeus' specialty). Xena dodged the lightning bolts and rolled under table, trying to form a plan. Ares was suddenly at her side. "Hi!"   
  
"Are you alright?" Xena asked.   
"Yeah, fine, just a right nasty bump on the head," Ares said, rubbing his head. "We need a plan," he muttered.   
"What do you know about those marks?" Xena asked.   
"Well, for a start, only gods use it in incredibly dangerous situations in which Hinds Blood or Chronos' bones are in the picture. They are very hard to come by and Hephaestus only made them for Zeus' pleasure. It's less vulnerable than the Steel of Hephaestus. The engravings show the elements of the universe and it is very difficult to reproduce because no piece of armor is the same. Ouch!" Ares hit his head in the same spot as he fell on it along the furniture by a jagged movement of the ship.   
  
Caesar kicked things over trying to find them. "Ares.... Xena...." he purred. "Come on out now like a good people. You realise that I know exactly where you are with the powers of the gods - I'm only doing this out of kindness, and fun."   
  
"Ares! On to the point! I don't really need a history lecture!" Xena whispered in panic.   
"Okay, um, Zeus stopped the armors powers to defeat Chronos and wore it himself to defeat Typhon. We all had to flee at the Typhon battle but I did get to watch my grandfather die when he was overthrown. Dad somehow got through it," Ares said, hoping it would be useful.   
  
"HOW????" Xena asked as a fireball blew something up right beside them.   
  
"HEY!!! Cut me some slack, I was five or six when this happened! And how would you like having to remember every little detail about YOUR grandfather being killed in front of you! And to answer your question, I remember this thing Zeus had - a little trinket.... I'VE GOT IT!!!" Ares snapped his fingers.   
  
"I was given the trinket at a very young age! It's my amulet! About a week after the fall of Chronos, I got given this thing in this great big celebration for helping Zeus. Dad didn't tell me what it was, obviously because he thought it would turn on him because Uranus was overthrown by Chronos and Chronos was overthrown by Zeus and I was next in line for a father killing, being the only son of his true wife. He must have got a shock when it was Hercules! Mum must have found out and in the nature of the father-son thing, the mother sides with the child. She cursed it so that only I could use it!" Ares said happily.   
  
"Great! Now let's use this thing and get the hell out of here before our ship sinks!" Xena said enthusiastically. Ares looked to the ground. Xena's happiness faded. "You don't know how to do it?!?" She asked.   
  
"I WAS FIVE!!!!!" Ares said again. "I need to know the Riddles of Life. Xena, I think our little joyride holiday is going to be cut short. We have to fight Caesar off, get to Crete, get the things we need, remember my childhood thingy vividly, get my powers back banish Caesar to the Underworld - to stay. It's dangerous but it's the only thing we can do." Ares sighed, "I can't believe that I've put you in jeopardy," Ares scolded himself.   
  
"Well we'll have to get a wriggle on then," Xena said and the same time as Caesar kicked the table over. Xena actually screamed and ran, dragging Ares in tow. "My oh my, what an obvious place to hide," Caesar muttered and followed them. He was taking his time.   
  
Xena and Ares ran up the stairs leading to the deck. The waves had subsided and the weather was clearing up. They slammed the trapdoor behind them and started up a trap for Caesar. They realized that although Caesar was still dead, he was still solid so he would be able to get hurt, so Ares clambered up the ropes to the helm of the ship with a very heavy piece of stone and got ready to hit Caesar on the head. Xena was going to be the bait.   
  
Caesar didn't own enough brains to figure out what was going on and sure enough, he was completely oblivious to the fact that Ares was above. He walked straight out, determined to kill Xena and received a nasty hit on the head. He fell to the ground unconscious. "Victory is mine!" Ares grinned happily and climbed down the ropes again to help Xena. The pair picked the heavy metal-clad Julius Caesar with great difficulty and threw him overboard.   
  
After congratulating each other on a good morning's struggle, they steered a course for Knossos, Crete, before settling down to a well earned breakfast that both of them couldn't wait to attack.   
Chapter 8   
  
"Great, another problem to solve - Caesar. What a nuisance!" Ares muttered, calculating distances on a map. That day had gone very slowly and it was full of work, trying to make escape routes and plans for their next encounter with Caesar(Xena had asked Ares if Caesar might actually be gone but he assured her that nothing was that easy, plus Caesar had powers.). Ares himself sat at the table in the cabin - now right side up - and had been working over maps and papers all day.   
  
Xena, who was in the cabin trying to clean up the place, couldn't help noticing how miserable Ares looked for putting her in danger. She tried to tell him that she didn't care about herself and wanted to help him but Ares wouldn't listen. Ares was sitting wearily in the same position that he had been in that whole day, and was trying desperately to keep her free and out of trouble. He had insisted that he did the complicated scroll-work and had said in an obvious lie "I'm fine", "I'm okay" and "I'm not tired. Don't worry about me" several times that day.   
  
Ares threw down the quill in frustration at not being able to find anything of use. He quickly rolled up the scroll and cast it aside. Regardless of what Ares said, he yawned and buried his face in his hands. Xena came over and kneeled beside him. "Ares, what's wrong?" She asked. "I'm fine," Ares said, pathetically trying to uphold his game that had been playing for many long hours. Xena embraced him. "Ares, why are you pushing yourself like this?" she whispered in a concerned manner. Ares just held her tighter. Ares didn't answer the question - inside he was cursing at himself because of the harm he had set aflame by being with her.   
  
"Ares, listen to me. It's not your fault that Caesar is after us - it's mine for starting to whole Twilight in the first place! You just helped me in the end and that means everything to me. Even if you hadn't done what you did and I finished off the gods, the gods would still come to get me out of revenge, despite the fact that they're dead. Ares, don't blame yourself for our troubles," Xena pleaded with him, looking into his eyes. Ares shut his own eyes and shook his head. "I can't help thinking that all this was caused because of me."   
  
"I'll follow your advice," Ares said. "I'm really tired. What's the time? It's probably not passed two o'clock."   
Xena looked out the window to the sun. "Ares, you don't realise how long you've been there. It's dusk."   
Ares rubbed his eyes. "Well at least it'll be easier to get to sleep with the sun setting," he muttered and got up. Ares walked over to the place he'd slept the night before and lay down. Xena came with him and lay down beside him. Xena held him tightly and rested her head on his chest.   
  
"Hang on," Xena said. Ares looked up at her. "Where's my kiss?" Xena asked, trying to look innocent. "Here," Ares said. He kissed her softly. Ares closed his eyes once more. "That's probably my fifth kiss today. I lost count," Ares said. Xena put her finger onto his lips. "Shh. Sleep. You need it or you'll fall over," She advised. Ares murmured something that sounded a bit like "Alrighty then" and relaxed significantly.   
  
Xena watched over him for a short span of time until he was asleep. When he had, Xena got up and started up the steps to the deck. Xena kept herself busy securing the ropes, pulling down the sails and repairing a few dents the ship had taken by Caesar. Soon, the sun had set and night covered the land so Xena dropped the anchor and returned to the cabin. Ares was sleeping soundly so Xena didn't wake him up. Xena had something to eat and followed Ares' example of going to sleep early. She had had a very long day too. Xena lay beside Ares and quickly fell asleep.   
  
In the morning, the tables had turned. Ares woke up at six and Xena woke up at ten. Ares wasn't beside her when she woke. Xena put her leathers on over the shift she was wearing and went to find him. Ares was on the deck practicing swordplay and had organized the ship on a straight course to Crete. On a course as straight as this, sailing time was cut dramatically. Crete was only a few days away.   
  
"Morning! Did you slept well? I did," Ares asked.   
"Wonderful. You've kept yourself busy, haven't you," Xena said, eyeing the deck.   
Ares shrugged. "I got bored," he said.   
"I should get you bored more often!" Xena joked.   
"I can never get bored when you're around," Ares said.   
"Well, let's get to Crete. Let's just hope that we aren't too busy doing business to spend some time doing other things," Xena stated hopefully.   
  
On the seventh day of sailing, things were still going smoothly. Caesar hadn't attacked yet but Ares was sure that he was planning something big and severe. That morning, Xena was in the cabin making lunch - bread and cheese - while Ares was up in the crow's nest sorting out the sails at the top. Xena came on and set the tray on the deck and sat down. "Ares!! Lunch!!" she called out, shielding her eyes from the midday sun. "Hold on, I'm coming!" Ares said as he began to climb down the ropes but he stopped. "Land at one o'clock!!!" He yelled down and pointed. Xena looked in the direction Ares said while he climbed down the ropes. Sure enough, Crete lay before them in the distance. "Steer a course north-east: if we're lucky, we can reach Crete by nightfall!" Ares said excitedly.   
  
Ares had been right in saying that they would reach Crete by sundown.The sun was almost entirely concealed over the horizon in the west and only a slight beam of light radiated from it. Xena and Ares dropped anchor and got in a small boat to get to the shore. That took about fifteen minutes. When they arrived on the northern coastline of Crete, they walked into the thick rainforest and set up camp. Very soon, they were both asleep.   
  
In the morning, the pair both got up early and hurriedly got prepared to go to Iraklion, a major city in Crete. On the outskirts of Iraklion, there lived some friends of Xena's (and Eli's as well) named Kahil and Isidira, who were merchants from India. If anyone could own a root from the Henna plant, it would be them. Xena knew from a certain adventure with Gabrielle in India that the Henna plant was the main ingredient to the Mehndi. So they set off on the walk there, vigilant for any signs of Caesar and his powers.   
  
It took a whole day of nonstop walking but Ares and Xena arrived in Iraklion. After the voyage, they decided that they should go out and enjoy themselves for a while so they went exploring through the city before going to find Xena's friends who lived there. Kahil and his wife, Isidira, lived on a farm where the grew crops and wove fabrics which they sold and traded in Egypt, Rome, Asia Minor, Armenia, Britannia, India itself, Greece and Chin.   
  
At about nightfall, Ares and Xena had finished looking around and reached the house of Kahil and Isidira. It was a nice little two story place, painted yellow on the outside with a finished wooden intricately carved door. Surrounding the home were paddocks of crops and animals. The land they owned must have been extremely expensive because Greece is very, very mountainous with very little farming land.   
  
Ares knocked on the door and stepped back two paces to wait with Xena. A faint "I'll get it, Kahil!" was heard and a few seconds later, a woman about 37 years old with long black hair and emerald green eyes, wearing deep green Harem pants with golden seams and a midriff matching top, opened at the door. Like all Indian people, she had a 'third eye' bindii in the middle of her forehead.   
  
"Xena!" She exclaimed. "How are you?" She embraced Xena.   
"Isidira, hi!" Xena greeted her. She broke the embrace. "Isidira, this is a friend of mine - Ares. Ares, this is Isidira." Xena introduced them. Isidira smiled. "Hi," she said, as did Ares. "Come in, come in!" She ushered them in. "Kahil, dear! We have company!" Isidira called to her husband.   
  
Isidira led them inside the house, into a stylish room with terracotta tiles and sunflower yellow walls. In the middle of the room was a wooden table and surrounding it were settees of many different colours which you could barely see under all of the cushions. In the middle of the table graced a small statue of a Buddha. "Sit down, both of you. You must be tired from the travel here!" Isidira beamed warmly.   
  
Xena sat down on one of the settees. Ares was about to sit down when Kahil came down the stairs. Kahil had short brown hair and brown eyes, just a bit lighter that Ares'. He wore red distinctively Indian clothes. He had the third eye bindii as well. Xena got up again as he greeted her. "Kahil, hi!" she said and introduced Ares to him as well. The two men shook hands. They all sat down around the table and engaged in small talk for quite some time. They talked about all sorts of things but Xena and Ares decided to keep back the fact that Xena had been presumed dead for twenty-five years and that Ares was the former Greek god of war (they didn't know).   
  
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Isidira asked. Xena glanced at Ares. Ares gave her an expression, silently saying "If you want to". "If there is enough food and it doesn't bother you, we'd love to," Xena said. "Excellent!" Kahil said. Isidira kissed her husband and left the room to prepare the food. Ares, Xena and Kahil talked until Isidira came back carrying bowls and cutlery. Her husband stood up to help her hold them all and set them down on the table. The bowls contained Cous Cous (an Moroccan/Indian food which is a bit like rice), Papadums (corn bread) and Chicken Masala.   
  
Xena looked over to Ares. Ares knew allot more than she did about India and their customs. Ares seemed to be doing exactly what Isidira and Kahil were doing, so Xena copied him. She was quite confused with a few things that the other three were doing, particularly when Ares said yes when they offered him salt but he pinched a bit of it and threw it over his shoulder - that was really weird but she did the same. That was another thing she had to ask him - where he learned all this stuff.   
  
When the meal was finished, Isidira piled the bowls on top of each other and pushed them aside. "That was wonderful, Isidira," Xena said. Ares agreed. "Now there was something we had to ask you. Do you sell Henna plants?"Xena asked. Kahil laughed. "Do we?! It is one of our largest selling products. Why?" he asked.   
  
"We would like to buy a root of Henna for a .... cure." Ares said hurriedly. Xena tried to back up his story. "Ares serves King Telemachus of Ithaca. Telemachus has been experiencing terrible health related problems which seemed without a cure until we saw an Indian physician. He said to get a whole bunch of stuff to make into a cream which would cure him. We were sent to find them. A root from a Henna plant was on the list and we came to find you," Xena said. (READERS: Telemachus is King Ulysses/Odysseus' son. Twenty five years later, Ulysses probably wouldn't be ruling)   
  
Kahil and Isidira looked at each other. "It's custom that only inhabitants from India can buy it, but there's a loophole. We'll give it to you for free," She said. "Oh, we couldn't accept that," Ares said. "Do it! It's for King Telemachus," Kahil urged him.   
  
"Okay then." Ares said. "We can get one for you in the morning. Would you like to stay here for tonight?" Isidira offered. "Sure, if you have enough space," Xena answered. The Indian couple beamed in delight. Isidira hurried off to get organized.   
  
"It's getting late. I think Isidira and I will go to bed now, if you don't mind," Kahil stated wearily. "Of course. We'll see you in the morning," Xena said. Isidira returned to the room with mattresses and bed linen. "Isidira, we can go from here. Rest. Thank-you very much for your hospitality but you look tired," Xena assured her and took the bed linen. "Okay then, Xena. Goodnight," she said and started up the stairs, hand in hand, with her husband.   
  
"Well, let's get cracking, Ares," Xena said, tossing a pillow to Ares. He snatched it out of the air and pulled the mattresses over to the other side of the room. After the sheets were put on properly, Xena and Ares climbed under the blankets and settled down. "What a cool night," Ares thought aloud. "Yeah. They're really nice people," Xena agreed. Xena leaned over and kissed him softly. "I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning," Xena said, snuggling further into the blankets closer to Ares. "Goodnight," Ares whispered to her, stroking the stray locks of her hair away from her face. Xena was already asleep. Ares closed his eyes and fell asleep.   
  
"Xena? Ares? Time to get up!" The pair heard two voices in unison. Xena and Ares opened their eyes. Isidira and Kahil were sitting beside them. They both got up and got out of bed. "Morning," Xena said, rubbing her eyes. "We thought we should wake you up because the Henna plants are shadeloving. They are at their best quality in the early morning and at dusk," Isidira said, handing Ares his boots from beside the mattress. "Thank-you," Ares said.   
  
The couple led Ares and Xena out into the paddocks outside. After about five minutes of walking, they came across what looked like a whole grove of Henna plants of all species from seedlings to adult trees. "These ones here are of good size," Kahil said to Xena. The plants were up to about Xena's knees. Isidira helped her husband dig one up. Kahil broke off a root about the length of the wrist to the elbow. Kahil put the plant off to the side to plant again later to make it larger.   
  
The foursome made their way back to the house. About twenty minutes later, Ares and Xena were saying good-bye to Kahil at the door. "Xena! Ares! Wait!" Isidira said, rushing from the middle of the house with a small bag. She gave it to Xena. "It's roast lamb and rice for your return trip to Ithaca," She explained. "Thankyou," Xena said. "Good-bye."   
  
"Bye," Ares said to the pair. "Thank you for your hospitality."   
"Great meeting you Ares," Kahil said, grinning. "Bye Xena. Have a good trip," He said to Xena. Xena waved. Isidira waved to them as they left.   
  
"Now, we have to go to the River of Mnemosene for some sacred water," Xena said as they walked back to Iraklion.   
"But Xena," Ares queried.   
"What?"   
"Where is the River of Mnemosene?"   
  
Xena stopped short. "I thought you knew!" she said as they arrived in Iraklion.   
"Hey! Just because I'm a former God doesn't mean that I know everything about my fellow Immortals too. I don't go and visit them all!" Ares said indignantly.   
"Great. That's just great. We're gonna have to buy a map or something. There should be a map maker in the city somewhere." Xena said.   
"I'll search the left half of the city. Xena - go right. We'll meet in the city square by that fountain over there in about an hour." Ares suggested as they entered the city, pointing to a huge water-display. Xena agreed and darted right. Ares went left. An hour passed and they met again where they had organised. Ares had found the map maker's shop in the left portion of Iraklion so Xena followed Ares who led the way.   
  
After twisting and turning through the crowds of people, they came to a rickety old shop on the corner of a road. Ares knocked on the door and stepped back. Ares said quickly to Xena "I'm gonna change our names so that Caesar doesn't find out," just before an old man opened the door. He had grey hair, wore a blue tunic and had a cane to help him hold himself erect. He looked Roman. To Xena's amusement, Ares began speaking really bad Greek to this man very slowly.   
  
"Good lunchtime. We is Gabinius and wife Cornelia. We is arriving Rome yester-night and need an map of region Crete," Ares said, looking very confused, but Xena knew it was just a disguise. The old man shot him a very perplexed look but led Xena and Ares into he building.   
"What sort of map would you like?" The old man asked. Now it was Xena's turn to have him on. "Like map Crete major religion area, nature formations," She said, also trying to look confused. The old man said, "What was that?"   
  
Ares laughed heartily. "Gabinius sorry but I and Cornelia cannot spoke well Greek. We say Latin," Ares explained, getting tongue-tied in the middle. The old man laughed too and said in very fast Latin, "So do I! I come from Rome too! Where are you from?" in a way that Xena couldn't understand but Ares went on in very impressive Latin, "We come from Sicily - Palermo! We came over here to learn about the Greek religion, because our ten year old son - Gabyllus - is studying in the Grammaticus of Rome about Greece and its monuments, land, culture and religion. We decided to go with our son on ship to Greece to learn more about it ourselves. Gabyllus is in Athens even as we speak studying about how the Parthenon was built. How long have you been staying here for?"   
  
Xena looked at Ares in amazement. The old man said, "Oh, ever since I can remember. My parents were astrologers and came to live in Greece during the long wars against Gaul and Britannia."   
  
Ares was getting real deep in this conversation, as if he really was Gabinius. "Really! My dad served in the war against the barbarians in Gaul! What a victory for Julius Caesar, huh!" Ares said, sounding really excited. Xena nudged Ares in the chest to say that the conversation had to finish. Ares became Ares again.   
  
"Anyway, Cornelia and I would like to buy a map of Crete, please," Ares accidentally lapsed back into Greek and had to quickly cover it up by saying, "Uh, was that all correct?" in Latin to keep back the suspicions of the old man. "Yes, that was correct. Crete map, here we come!" He said and hobbled away into the chests of drawers full of maps surrounding the room. He mumbled to himself, trying to find a map with all that Xena and Ares required of them. Once he had discovered one, he pulled it out of the shelve and slammed the drawer shut. He led the pair over to a table and rolled out the map. It was perfect for what they needed - I showed all of the religious sites in Crete like the River of Mnemosene and all of the major cities like Knossos.   
  
"Wonderful," said Xena in Latin (Ares had been telling her how to say it while the old man was getting the map). "Thank-you very much," Ares said, pulling out his purse of money. "How much is that?" he asked.   
  
The man thought for a while. "For you - fifteen dinars."   
  
"Five."   
"Ten."   
"Six."   
"Eight."   
"Seven."   
"Done!"   
  
Ares handed over the seven dinars and clasped Xena's hand. "Good day, sir!" Ares said and led Xena out of the map maker's shop. "Okay Ares, you have some explaining to do," Xena said to him.   
  
"What? What did I do?"   
"Where did you learn to speak Latin and where did you find out so much about India?"   
  
"I used to do secret agent spy work for Zeus all over the world and I used to be Olympus' official ambassador to different realms and nations whenever we needed one. Latin is a major language these days and you can't survive Rome without it."   
  
"Okay - have map, will travel," Ares said. "Come on, let's try and get a big chunk of our travel time out of the way. According to the map, there's a river nearby. We can stop there and attack this lamb and rice we have here."   
  
Chapter 9   
  
"EVE!!!" Gabrielle and Virgil yelled through the crowded market of Sparta. "Where are you!!!"   
  
The pair spotted Xena's daughter on the other side of the markets and went to get her. Once they got through the swarms of people, Eve wasn't there anymore. Gabrielle clenched her fists in frustration. That was the tenth time it had happened in the last hour. "EVE!!!" Gabrielle called out again. She sighed and said to Virgil, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she was trying to avoid us!!"   
  
Virgil scoffed. "Not us - me. She's guilty about Joxer and I don't blame her. I'm enjoying every ounce of this that I have! I wish she would just put herself out of her misery and insanity and leave my sight," Virgil muttered. "Virgil!!!" Gabrielle said exasperatedly. "That's enough! You forgave Ares. Why not Eve?"   
  
"Ares only supported Eve. Eve killed my father," Virgil said, not even bothering to look for Eve. "LIVIA!! Livia killed your father, not Eve. Eve is completely different. Compassion, kindness, love, forgiveness, mercy - they are all in her heart. Eve had done nothing wrong," Gabrielle said.   
  
"LIVIA IS EVE!!! They are the same person. A dark heart resides in them both!!!" Virgil said. "No, I will not forgive her."   
  
"Virgil..." Gabrielle began but she knew when she was defeated. "Just give her a chance. She's going through some rough times right know, fighting her dark side, her guilt - just like Xena. Eve has to make amends for herself and she is having enough trouble with her inner demons without you rubbing it in."   
  
Virgil was about to protest but gave up. "Okay, I'll try, but don't expect much from me." He stopped to find something else to argue about. "And plus, I haven't forgiven Ares! He's just as much as an evil, blood sucking, back stabbing murderer as Eve is! I tolerate him because Xena told me to. Personally, I thought that your friendship with Xena would have been strong enough to not leave her alone with him. I bet he's plotting to kill her even as we speak!" He said.   
  
"Ares loves Xena more than all he's worth and after all the stupid things he has done to try and get her back, Ares is smart enough to not do such a thing if he wants her. Trust me," Gabrielle said in his defense.   
  
"I do. I trust you and Xena, but not Eve and Ares."   
  
"Virgil. Ares - he has seen the wrong in his ways and has purely changed. Even I have seen this and I hated Ares more than Xena seemed to do! And that was bad. But Ares is a completely different man underneath. He has shed away his ... overcoat, if you will ... and he is sweet, caring, charming, bright, and he loves Xena. The Ares we all thought we knew would never have done what he did for Eve and I. He was only out for himself," Gabrielle said, looking Virgil in the eye.   
  
"HE DOES NOT LOVE HER!!!! THAT'S JUST WHAT HE'S TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK!!! ARES WILL NEVER CHANGE!!!" Virgil said hotly. "You haven't seen him over the last twenty five years. A tyrant, he was. A power hungry man without a heart. A man who mercilessly slaughtered thousands of men, women and children, side by side with Eve."   
  
"And do you know why, Virgil?!?!" Gabrielle asked. She was rapidly becoming angry. "Because he loved her! His grief drove him to do such deeds!   
  
Gabrielle sighed and began to look once again. Eve crept up behind them and pounced. Gabrielle screamed and Virgil nearly fell over in shock. Eve laughed and pulled Gabrielle up. She outstretched her hand to Virgil but he didn't take it. Virgil got up by himself. "Gabrielle, I think we've gone slightly overboard. We've been shopping through markets for eleven days! Mum and Ares are probably in Crete by now! How much do we have so far?" Eve asked.   
  
Virgil and Gabrielle pulled from a huge bag about fifty little bags. "We have a tablespoon of 79 different spices. It was all about one hundred dinars," Virgil said, looking through the bags and avoiding eye contact with Eve. "One hundred dinars?" Eve repeated. "Well, on the bright side, we will have a very flavourous breakfast, lunch and dinner for quite some time." Gabrielle said.   
  
"I think it's time to find mum and Ares now. 79 spices is quite enough, don't you think?" Eve said. Gabrielle gulped and shuddered. "Crete - accessible only with a boat. I wish I could walk on water!" Gabrielle said glumly and held her stomach at the mere thought of the sea. "Come on, Gabrielle! It can't be that bad!" Virgil said as if telling off an immature toddler.   
  
"Oooooh," Virgil groaned in unison with Gabrielle. The threesome had boarded a ship earlier that day and it would have been difficult to judge which had been sick the most - Gabrielle or Virgil. Like her mother, Eve was immune to the seasickness and was happily hoisting the sails and steering the ship, humming tunes. Eve sat beside Virgil and looked at him in pure concern. Virgil's pride made him turn away.   
  
"Virgil," Eve said timidly. "Can I help you?"   
  
"I'm fine," Virgil said hotly before leaning over the side of the deck once more to be sick. "No you're not. Here, give me your hand," She said, avoiding his cold stare. Virgil reluctantly gave her his hand. She smiled. "Ares taught me this cure for seasickness. It's really cool," Eve said. With her index finger and middle finger, she jabbed Virgil's wrist. Virgil withdrew his hand quickly, examining it as if it had been bitten by a snake. "My stomach. It doesn't feel bad anymore," he said in wonder. She laughed. "It's a pressure point. They're all over your body. It just has one side affect. It makes you have a taste for food you usually wouldn't eat," Eve explained.   
  
Gabrielle, who had been sitting beside Virgil looked at her in amazement. "You know, your mother knew how to do pressure points as well. She taught me that too, a few years before you were born. You truly are you mother's daughter," Gabrielle informed her. Eve beamed in pride.   
  
After that, Virgil had a fairly improved attitude towards Eve. "Where are we right now?" he asked. Eve looked to the sky in thought. "Hmmm, about a mile from Kithira. It should be about a few days until we reach the coastline of Crete and then a few more days down the coast to Knossos. It should be no problem if we continue with weather like this," She said, pulling down a sail with difficulty. "Here," Virgil said. "Let me help you," he murmured and secured tied the knot down with Eve. Eve looked at him and smiled.   
  
  
"Ares, where are you?" Xena asked softly. She and Ares had set up camp beside the river earlier on and had decided to have a rest from travelling there. After they had finished off the lamb and rice (which was very quick between the pair of them) they had just spent the rest of the afternoon just being together and talking. The pair had stayed up all night doing just that and must have fallen asleep - Xena couldn't remember. Xena woke up in the middle of the night and Ares wasn't by her side. "Ares?"   
  
Xena searched around the burnt-out fire by the light of the moon to find out where he had gone. Nothing. Xena looked through his back for something - nothing. Xena began to panic but she stopped herself. _Ares is fine. He is not a child - not by far. Ares can take care of himself_ Xena reasoned with herself. _Not as well as he used to though. He's not immortal anymore... Where in Tartarus is he?_  
  
After having one last look around and not finding anything, Xena began to get really worried. She put on the rest of her armor (sword, boots, belt, breastplate, arm ringlets etc.) and was about to go when she noticed a note attached to a tree by a familiar dagger belonging to Ares. Xena could have punched herself in the head for being so stupid and getting herself so worked up. "Ares probably just went for a swim or a walk or something," Xena said dismissively. She took the note and read its contents, written in Ares' handwriting, although it seemed as though it had been written very quickly:   
_Xena, my soul.  
You are probably wondering where I am. I'm sorry that I'm not there.   
I went down to the river and I was attacked by Julius Caesar. He took me by surprise and   
I could have been killed, but I obviously haven't because I'm writing to you. My   
amulet did this really wierd thing while he was around, probably to do with the armor.   
The amulet **burned**. It basically singed my body on the inside, if you know   
what I mean. I feel fine now, don't worry about me. I'm getting tired though. Please don't come   
after me. He'll turn around and take you out and I will completely loose my reason to live. Just keep   
a look out for a guy with now very fuzzy hair and very heavy armor - you can't miss him!   
  
Be careful! I'll be back as soon as I can. I am currently   
in the trees near the camp and Caesar is not far. I'll find a way out - I have years of experience!!!   
  
Love,   
Ares_   
  
For a moment, Xena was touched, especially with what Ares said about the fact that Xena was his soul and reason to live, and that he ended it with "Love, Ares." For a few moments, Xena felt like what many women feel like when they receive letters from their husbands who are away in war being soldiers. Those women cherish notes like that : but Xena didn't have time. She suddenly realized the rest of the letter and that the writer was in danger.   
  
She put the piece of parchment down and got up to help. She spent a moment to think about how she would carry the plan out. Xena remembered what Ares had said in the letter : _Please don't come after me. Caesar will turn around and take you out and I will completely loose my reason to live...._ Xena shook her head in frustration. _Does Ares believe that it is possible to stay away and help at the same time???_ Xena thought. She quickly decided to discard Ares' pleas and go to help.   
  
Xena picked up Ares' bag which held most of the things they kept. She slung it over her shoulder and was just about to go when Ares ran through the trees and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a run. "Come on!! Caesar will be here any moment!!" he said. Xena noticed that Ares had a wound on the right side of his forehead. It had been briefly attended to but it was still in need of a cleaning. Ares didn't seem to care. He just kept on running. Xena went with him as fast as she could but she soon had a stitch. "Ares! Where are we going?" Xena asked.   
  
Ares stopped, noticing that she had a pain in her stomach - and that his forehead graze had opened up again. Ares wiped away a bit of dried blood and inhaled. Both their breaths were laboured by now. "Ares!!! Where are we going?" Xena repeated, looking around in anxiety. Ares didn't have time to answer. The trees rustled as unbridled wind swept around the area and drowned out Ares' answer. "That's one of Poseidon's powers," Ares said loudly over the wind. "He's coming, he's..."   
  
Again, Ares' voice was drowned out by the wind. What he would have said was, "Here!" Caesar came out of the trees. He couldn't see them yet but he probably would if he used the Power of the Gods (Immortals have eyesight twenty times sharper than mortal eyes). Careful at first to not make a sound, Ares and Xena shifted positions to a better hiding spot. "Ares..... Xena..... I know where you are...." Caesar purred, moving around the place. "Ares, you should understand that gods can sense mortals anywhere, either from their heart beating or their brainwaves which signal their whole body. It creates a force field around them to easily locate them. Don't play games with me. Just come out and surrender like a good former god of war. You too, 'warrior princess' " Caesar informed them.   
  
Ares was dying to say his usual phrase in a situation when someone is telling him to do something : You're in no position to make demands! And then realized that Caesar was in a position to make demands, so Ares kept his mouth shut. Ares motioned to Xena with his index finger to come with him around the back. Xena herself had been holding onto him with all of her strength in fear, not for herself but for him. She hadn't realized that she had been holding him so tightly. Seeing his finger point, Xena nodded and quietly got up with him.   
  
Caesar's face lit up. "Hmm. There you are. I'll kill you this time," He said looking directly at where they had been. At that point, Xena and Ares were already sprinting like leopards down the hill until Ares thought of a better way. Ares let go of Xena's hand and decided to have some fun at the same time as escaping. Xena had already caught on with the plan, so they both did what they thought it was. They rolled down the hill at the speed of light. Suddenly Ares got up on his feet, grabbed Xena and pulled her into a cave hidden from view. Caesar came out of the bushes above and looked around for them.   
  
Caesar was greatly confused by the act. How they suddenly disappeared was beyond him. Caesar began to think that Ares had already gotten his powers and had teleported away. Then it occurred to him that Ares would have used them against him if he had them. "Where are you??" Caesar asked in his sweetened voice, as if to say that he knew exactly where they are. "What a idiot!!!" Ares muttered softly. Xena bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing.   
  
"I'll have mercy on you both. It is not the right time," Caesar said, sounding slightly worried this time. He disappeared in a shimmering gold light. Ares and Xena waited for a minute or so before they slowly crept out of the small cave. The pair dusted themselves off and looked around. "We did it!" Xena laughed in relief. "Yeah. Caesar may have the Power of the Gods on his side but definitely not the brains to back it up," Ares agreed. Xena rushed into him and held him close. Ares winced in slight pain. Xena looked him up and down. "Where does it hurt?" She asked.   
  
"Uh, my ribs, my back, my arm, my shoulders, my legs, my head - Chronos my head!" Ares muttered, gingerly touching the wound. "Do you want a kiss on them to make it better?" Xena asked teasingly, leading him to the river nearby. Ares chuckled. "No. It would hurt too much. I was really whipped."   
  
"Well, where doesn't it hurt?" Xena asked exasperatedly. She dipped a piece of fabric kept in the bag into the cool water to clean Ares' head wound. Ares hummed thoughtfully. After a while, he pointed to his left elbow. Xena looked at him and shook her head. She kissed it. "Happy?" Xena asked. Ares nodded. "How far from Knossos do you suppose we are?" he asked. "Not very long. About two or three days walk from here. Come on. Let's get this cleaned up," Xena said, wringing out the cloth to get rid of the excess water.   
  
Chapter 10   
  
The next day, Xena and Ares set out for Knossos. As they travelled, Xena was delighted that Ares' wounds and torn places were healing rapidly. Most of them were fixed by the very good night sleep complete with sleep in he had had the previous night. The head wound healed over the walk to Knossos, leaving him with a very small scar. Soon he was back to usual strength.   
  
A few days later, Xena received a letter from Gabrielle who had dispatched the notice by bird. It said where their current location was, approximately how long it would take to get to Knossos, Virgil's growing peace with Eve and exactly how maany times Gabrielle had been sick in the voyage. Xena chuckled as she read the note and passed it to Ares, who was looking around the place at the view. Ares received it and quickly skimmed through the text. He shook his head.   
  
"I've never met someone so affected by sea before. And she calls herself a Greek! Greeks have the sea in their blood. Funny girl," Ares remarked. "It's good that Virgil is getting better with Eve. She's a nice girl. Virgil should see that she's changed," he said, reading the part about Virgil on the piece of parchment again more slowly.   
  
"What was Eve like as Livia?" Xena asked.   
  
Ares shifted on the spot, searching for words. "Well," he began "Livia came to a temple of Mars/me in Rome with Octavian when she was about fourteen. She was a really pretty young girl, I'll tell you that, and she looked one heck of a lot like you did when you were the same age. She was making a sacrifice to me, asking me to help Octavian in some campain he was leading.   
  
'When he left, Livia stayed and once the priests left the room, she asked me to make her a warrior - help her through the world and train her up to be like the Warrior Princess. You know, she wasn't one of a kind. Many young girls came to me to become like you. You were an inspiration to them all. A role model. I decided to help her because she had the determination of you, the strength of you, the desire of you - I almost thought she was basically you, but I realised that no one was like you. I would never have you back.   
  
'I came to her and I told her that I would answer her plea's and train her. She learned all the things that I had taught you and learned very quickly. This went on for a few years behind Octavian's back. She soon became my first in command. She changed through that time. In the beginning, she was a shy, sweet little girl - by nineteen, she just wanted power and lot's of it. As you did in her stage, Livia began to think of me more as a relationship partner and not a mentor. It was reminding me too much of you and it really hurt. I decided to let my dejah vu go unnoticed and let history repeat itself but I wouldn't make the same mistakes as I did with you.   
  
'Soon after, Livia became out of control and she decided that she wanted to rule the whole Roman Empire as empress. At the same time, Eli's cult came up again and we made a deal that if she stamped out the cult, I would do my thing and make her empress. We agreed and I watched her form up her army to get rid of Eli's followers. This went on for quite some time. Then I realised the insanely stupid mistake I made of tombing you and Gabrielle. You came and you know the rest from there," Ares recounted. "Nothing much happened."   
  
Xena nodded. "Right. I needed to know that. I wish I could see what Eve looked like when she was fourteen year old Livia." Xena said regrettably.   
  
"You can when I get my powers," Ares suggested. Xena looked at him and smiled. "That'd be great." She said. "Well," Ares said. "Let's pick up a pace. We might beat Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil to Knossos."   
  
"We definitely will, Ares. We are about two hours away and the sea gang will get here in a few days," Xena said, pointing to the paragraph stating her words. Ares nodded his head to say that he knew that and that he just forgot.   
  
The two hours passed slowly underneath the fierce, afternoon sun. Xena and Ares walked in silence until they came to the massive city of Knossos. It was once ruled by a tyrant king name King Minos, who adored decadence and luxury and he was exceedingly rich. He brought in tonnes of taxes from the people and kept most of it for himself. He sent for the world's best architectual designers from the Museum in Alexandria, the capital city of Egypt (at that time. It used to be Memphis, Thebes, Alexandria and in modern times it is now Cairo.) and brought them to Knossos to build him a palace in the middle of the city. Many, many years after his reign of terror, the palace still stood.   
  
Underneath the palace was an enormous labrinth which used to house the Minotaur. It was a ugly creature, half man half bull. King Minos sent for seven young maidens every four years to feed the monster. Theseus, a hero, came to the city and destroyed it. Shortly after, King Minos fled from Knossos for his life. The people of Crete where named Minoans after him.   
  
Xena and Ares looked around the colossal buildings. "King Minos might not have cared for his people but he sure knew how to make an impression. He ust have spared no expense on his city," Xena remarked in awe. Ares had been here before because his temple was here so he wasn't that surprised. "You should see the shrines Minos erected to my family. HUGE."   
  
Ares nodded to the right and they went to investigate a crowd of Minoans forming in what looked like a sporting arena. Pictures of bulls and several young, athletic men and women were posted around the area. "It must be the bull jumping," Ares said. "It originates here. I used to watch peasants and farmers do it here. Have you seen it?"   
  
"No I haven't. I've heard of it though. Isn't it that really dangerous game when you actually run up to a charging bull and flip between the horns?" Xena asked.   
  
"Yep. You have to have nerves of steel to do it though," Ares added. Xena examined a nearby poster. At the bottom, it had a very familiar name. "Ares, look!!!" Xena pointed. "It's Salmonius!! He's the commentator and merchandise manager!!" she said excitedly. "Wow, he's still in the the merchandise business," Ares shook his head.   
  
Xena glanced at the picture beside the name. Salmonius wore a blue and purple robe-like outfit like he usually did with sandles and a belt. He looked amazingly like he used to twenty-five years ago. The only difference was that his hair had turned a very very very light grey and had lines around his eyes.   
  
"Is that him over there - no, it couldn't be!" Ares pointed to the stand in the middle of two arches leading into a large, stone complex in which people were rushing through to get good seats. Sure enough, standing on the mini-stage was Salmonius. Xena and Ares made their way over to meet him.   
  
"Step right up and get your merchandise here!! Shirts, skirts, belts, tunics, toga's to underwear!! We have the clothes to suit everyone of every size! And for the kids, we have toys of the famous bulls used in this sport!!! That's right, we have 'Horny', 'Cowface', 'Nose Ring-Pull', 'Bloody Meat', 'Oh-No-I've-Stepped-in-a-Huge-Bull-Turd', and 'Sam' all here in plush toy form!!!!! Only for a limited time! But wait, there's more! We have chariot's used by the athlete's themselves in a recent tournament - well actually they are mine from adolecence about seventy years ago - but they are all relics from the worlds greatest bull jumpers!!! At the cheapest amount of dinars guaranteed!!!!! And don't forget to cast your bets on the hay eating competition out the back!!!!" Salmonius yelled out in the voice that could have only belonged to him. He went on and on in this fashion for some time. When he saw Xena and Ares, he stopped short. "I'm gonna have a short lunch break, ladies and gentleman."   
  
He hurried down from the stage and went to greet them. "Xena, how are you? Hold on a tick, aren't you dead?"   
  
"No, I was just frozen in a ice tomb for twenty five years by a certain someone," she answered. Ares shifted on his feet but kept quiet.   
  
"What's wrong with this picture?" Salmonius asked. "Xena alive and looking like a thirty year old when you should look like a fifty-five year old, you two together," he said looking at Ares "Gabrielle away and the pair of you in Crete. I'd never thought I'd live to see the day when this happened."   
  
"Well, Ares and I are really, really good friends at the moment," Xena said.   
  
"Well, it's great to see the both of you. Ares, I haven't seen you around. Hercules told me just the other day that you stopped picking on him. Is it true?" Salmonius asked. Xena looked at him too.   
"Yeah. I had more important things to do than that. Stuff in Rome," Ares admitted.   
"Hercules is here?" Xena asked.   
"He was a few days ago. He lives in Delphi right now. He settled down, got married and I think he has two children," Salmonius said.   
"Who's his wife?" Xena asked.   
"Her name's Megara, I think," The merchant pondered over the thought.   
  
"Well, we might go and see him sometime," Ares said, ending the conversation.   
"Salmonius" Xena asked, "I haven't been here in Knossos before. I was just wondering where the Circle of Immortals is. You know, the bunch of temples?"   
  
"Ah yes. It's about two minutes walk to the east of the city," Salmonius said.   
"Great. Bye Sal. Great seeing you again!" Xena said and grabbed Ares for support through the crowds. Salmonius waved and stepped back onto the stand to continue advertising the merchandise.   
  
The pair looked around the streets and markets and bought something to eat. They sat down and started to eat. "You know Xena, this trip has been really fun. I mean, taking out the part that we have a powerful being backed with the Power of the Gods chasing us, we barely have a dinar between the two of us and that it has been incredibly dangerous, it has been a really good travel." Ares said as he ate his lunch. "Wohr wite," Xena agreed between bites. She finished off her mouthful before beginning again. "I don't think that it could have been better or worse. This trip was quite different to most I've travelled. It's really unusual doing the trip with you. It's something I haven't done before. But with this trip, I wouldn't feel as ..... secure with Gabrielle - especially with Caesar around."   
  
"I wouldn't have bothered going if it was with anyone but you." Ares said, wiping his hands together the get the excess crumbs off. "So I'm good company?" Xena asked. "Oh yeah. Well, let's get on with this then." Ares said.   
  
Knowing that they arrived from the west of Knossos, they went east straight across the city and a little more to the Circle of Immortals. Xena was right in saying how many temples and shrines there were. Tonnes. All of them were erected in a large circle, sort of like the Druid/Celtic temples in Britannia. Each temple was seperated from the surrounding temples by a shrine of gold. The temples to the main twelve Immortals, the Olympian Gods, were the largest ones. Priests stood in front of each temple wearing long linen tunics resembling the one on the high priest's son in the temple of Hera and holding either a torch or an olive branch. Xena and Ares looked around. Ares was trying to remember who's temple was who's.   
  
"Athena's was made of greenish stone, Zeus' of white stone, Hades' of black marble, Aphrodite's of red like the ones at that monument in Jordan, Hera's was an amethyst colour - that one must be mine," Ares muttered to himself and pointed to a deep blue stoned temple in the middle of Aphrodite's and Hera's.   
  
"Excuse me," Ares asked the two priests in front of his temple. "Does this temple belong to the God of War?"   
The two priests looked at each other as if he was an idiot. "Yes." the said simultaneously.   
"We need to get through to the inner sanctuary," Ares said to them.   
  
One of them snickered. The other stayed serious. "No one but the high priest and Ares himself is allowed in there."   
  
"Oh good, I can go in there than." Ares said.   
"Are you deaf? I just said that only Ares and the high priest can go in there."   
"And I said I can. I'm Ares, God of War!"   
  
The priest snicked with his partner. "Excuse me madam, but is your companion insane?" he asked Xena.   
"No, he's not."   
"Prove then, My Lord!"   
  
Ares looked at himself to see what he could use. "The Mark of the Order. It is worn only by Ares and his warriors," Ares said and pulled the sleeve of his shirt up to the top of his shoulders and showed him his tatoo on his arm, bearing the same design as his pendant.   
  
"Exactly! Him _and_ his warriors. You serve the god like us. We have it too."   
  
Ares smirked, although his eyes were cold and angry. "What about this then?" he said calmly. He tugged the pendant off his neck and threw it at the priests. One of them caught it and screamed in pain as the amulet reacted to the curse. In a huge hot-potato game, the priest threw it to the other priest who cried out in agony and threw it back to Ares. Ares snatched it out of the air and put it around his neck again. The two priests looked down at their hands. Burned into the skin was the intricate design of the amulet.   
  
Ares laughed. "My mother, Hera, cursed the amulet so that only I, her only son, could yield it. Had you have held it for any longer, you would have burst into flame."   
  
The priests realised that they had just been rude to the second most powerful male Immortal in the Panthenon of Olympus and they were freaked. The two priests sunk to their knees in a deep bow. "We are so sorry, Ares. Have mercy on us, please!!!" One of them said.   
  
As Ares looked down on them, they slowly lifted their heads, quivering with fear. Xena, who had stayed right out of it, was impressed how he managed to keep men under control by fear. Gods learnt it as an art from a young age. "Look at me closely. Make the same mistake again and I will make your life and your descendants' lives a misery!!!" Ares' voice cut through the air sharply. His eyes told them that he was not joking. "If you see a blonde woman and a black haired woman accompanied by a tall brown haired man, send them to me. Back to your posts, gentleman!" He said calmly.   
  
The two priests scrambled to their feet, bowed deeply again and opened the door. "Thank you!!!" Ares said brightly and Xena followed him in. They passed through the outer sanctuary and opened the beautifully carved wooden door leading to the inner chamber. Xena shut the door after them. Ares lit the torches around the room, filling the sanctuary with a firey glow. The room was surprisingly luxurious for a room which only two people were allowed to go in. Intricately woven rugs lay on the floor. The room was adorned with golden artefacts and weapons. Small mirrors were all around the room but their number was greatly surpassed by the amount of candles. Thousands of tiny little candles.   
  
"Nice place, Ares," Xena remarked as she sat down on a wooden reclining couch covered in velvety pillows.   
"I agree. This place has changed since the last time I was here. That was fifty years ago." Ares said, sitting next to her.   
"So what do we do now?" Xena asked.   
"Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil said they should be here in a few days. We have allot of time on our hands. We should get everything organised in three days and before then, well, I don't have a clue." Ares said, missing her point. Xena moved closer.   
  
"I myself am a bit disappointed that our little trip was interrupted," Xena said, pulling him closer to her by the folds of his shirt.   
"I was thinking the same thing myself." Ares murmured. Xena pressed her lips to his and allowed herself to be gently pushed down into the cushions.   
  
  
Chapter 11   
  
Three days slowly passed by. When the time (regrettably for them) slipped away, they took the ingredients for the mixture that they had and put it all on the altar in the inner chamber, ready for the herbs and spices from Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the threesome to arrive.   
  
In the afternoon of the third day, Gabrielle arrived with no sign of Eve or Virgil. She was allowed to go through by the priests at the door, still evidently shaken by Ares' little threat. The 'irritating blonde' made her way through the outer sanctuary to the inner chamber door. She knocked twice and waited for the door to open. Xena opened the door and ushered her in. Gabrielle was shocked too.   
  
"Look at this place!" Gabrielle said, laying beside the door her bag and her sais.   
"Have you got the spices?" Xena asked. Gabrielle surpressed a grin. "If anything, too much."   
"Excellent."   
"Where's Ares?" Gabrielle asked.   
"Well, he's ... Ares!! Where are you!?" Xena looked around.   
"Right here!" Ares answered, waving a hand slowly in front of her face. He had been standing right in front of them in front of the main torch of the room. "Honestly, you should both use this mixture as well."   
  
"Where are the others?" Ares asked.   
"Eve and Virgil? Getting the bags of herbs and spices out of the ship!" Gabrielle said. Ares raised an eyebrow. "How much did you buy?" he asked suspiciously. Xena looked at her. Gabrielle muttered her answer. "We went a little overboard, in the words of Eve. About one hundred dinars worth."   
  
Ares was dumbfounded. So was Xena. "You do realise that we only needed less than a quarter of a spoonful of each one, don't you Gab?" Ares asked.   
  
"One quarter? We got two spoonfuls of each one!" Gabrielle said.   
  
Ares shook his head. "Well, it doesn't really matter. We can sell the leftovers of what we need." Xena suggested. "Let's just wait until Eve and Virgil come back and we'll get on with it."   
  
"Good idea." Gabrielle agreed and sat down to wait for the rest of the group while Xena and Ares put together the finishing touches on the ingredients.   
  
After a while, Eve and Virgil arrived at the temple, dragging a huge sack behind them full of the spices. The priests recognised them from Ares' vague description and sent them in to see Ares and Xena. They were both panting and gasping for air as they reached the inner chamber. "Hi mum," Eve greeted Xena in laboured breaths. "Ares," she said and nodded to him in a hello. Virgil had sunk to his knees in exhaustion. Gabrielle came into the room from a arched doorway. Her face lit up. "Eve! Virgil! What took you so long?!?!" Gabrielle asked.   
  
"Just you try dragging that damn thing a kilometre!!!" Virgil muttered.   
"Let's just get this over with, okay people?" Ares cut out the conversation. Still annoyed by Gabrielle's manner, Virgil motioned for Eve to help him unload the cargo kept in the heavy bag.   
  
By nightfall, the mixture was ready to be mixed - it took that long to get out and separate all of the spices. They had decided that they would all use the mixture, just for fun and to remember some little insignificant things like 'Did Lyceus cheat on that race we had when I was seven?' or 'Why did mum and dad suddenly send me to bed that day when we had the enormous sandstorm?' and so forth.   
  
Xena, Ares, Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil walked through the temple in single file wearing comfortable silk outfits which Ares had found in the inner sanctuary. Each person was carrying an ingredient to the mixture. Slowly they walked until they reached the offerings table which had been changed into an ordinary altar. All five spread themselves evenly around the altar and set their ingredient down.   
  
"Bowl." Ares said flatly and held out his hand. Virgil passed it to him without a word. "Henna extract." he said and Xena passed it to him. "Herbs and spices." he said. Gabrielle slid the small bag full of the proper amount over the stone altar, making it squeak. 'Sorry' she mouthed. Ares put the ingredients into the bowl. "Sacred water from the River of Mnemosene." Eve passed a small, colourful amphorae (stone pottery jug) filled with the water over to Ares. Ares poured the water into the bowl with it and took a thick wooden stick - like the people of Chin use to mix food (you see it used by Joxer in 'Purity') - and he mixed it all together. Once the water was invisible and the mix was like a paste, it was ready.   
  
Breaking the ceremonial beginning, Ares said "Okay we're done. Let's just hope that this works!" Making it even more unlike a ritual, Xena started tugging at her clothes. "These things are soooo hot! And they itch as well."   
  
"Yeah!" Gabrielle agreed. "They go right up your backside, don't they!" Virgil had already taken his off and was straightening up his usual clothes which he had worn underneath. Eve just fanned herself with her hand.   
  
"Who's going first?" Eve asked. Xena, Gabrielle and Virgil all answered simultaneusly, "Ares." Ares took it that he was going first and sat on the altar. "Let's get this show on the road," he said and reached for their little concoction. He took off his amulet and said out loud, "I give permission for Xena, Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil to use this talisman for their own purposes for the length of time it takes for this ritual."   
  
That done, Ares held it tightly in his right hand and dipped his fingertips in the cream. As Rhea instructed, he spread it over his chest and forehead and rubbed his hands together, making them covered. When it was finished, he gave it to Xena. She looked closely at the cream. She smelled it briefly but turned her head away in repulsion. "That stuff smells.... very interesting, doesn't it?" She said and did as Ares had done before her. Gabrielle went after Xena and it went on in that way. Soon all five were done.   
  
After the ceremony, they were already tired so it wasn't difficult to get to sleep as Rhea prescribed.   
  
_"Oh, grandma!!! Do I have to go to bed already?" a little boy asked disappointedly before yawning heavily. He was less than a metre tall and, lucky for him, had soft, black curly hair and handsome little brown eyes. He was wearing a light tunic reaching his knees and small sandals were strapped to his feet. The little boy was holding a woman's hand and with her was walking down the corridors of his home, Mt. Olympus. He looked up to the woman in what appeared to be her early thirties and molded the appearance of his eyes into his perfected puppy-dog look.  
  
"Yes you do have to go to bed now, honey. Mummy and daddy will be coming home soon and they will want you in bed. I've let you stay up four hours past your bedtime, young man. If your father found out, he'd hit the roof. You know that, Ares! You're gonna get little 'ole me into trouble," the woman said in a goodnatured tone. "Look at you, you can barely walk straight!"   
  
"I'm not tired!" the little boy, apparently named Ares, insisted but it ended up as a pathetic try as he yawned again. The woman chuckled and picked him up from under the arms and hugged him tightly. She put one arm around his thighs and another arm supporting his back to keep him there. "I don't - I don't want to go to bed," he continued aimlessly although he was quickly falling asleep in her arms.   
  
The woman carried the sleepy child down the remaining hall until she arrived at the bedchambers. Several doors were lined up in a row, each one inlaid with gold leaf and ingraved in each one was the name of the deity who resided in each one. The woman found her grandson's room - the fifth one to the left - and carefully opened the heavy stone doors of his room. As usual, the bed had black and red silk sheets which set across the room a dim colour. The many many candles in his room (Ares had taken a massive liking to them, especially because he was scared of the dark) made deep flickering shadows along the walls.   
  
The woman pushed aside the blankets and laid the child inside them. Ares' eyes widened in an attempt to stay up later. "Grandma Rhea, I'm really really really not tired. Please!!!!!!" he asked. She smiled and shook her head. Ares briefly looked deep in thought. "By Zeus, has anyone ever told you that you look exceptionally beautiful in the dim light of the candles - even more fairer than usual?" he asked with an innocent look on his face. Rhea laughed. "You can sure put on the charm when you want to, Ares. But it still won't keep you up later!"   
  
Ares put his thinking cap on again. "Could you please tell me a story?" he asked. Rhea grinned. "You never give up do you!" To that, Ares answered, "Nope. I'm as sly as a fox." "As stubborn as a mule is more like it," Rhea said. Ares put on a mock insulted expression gaining another laugh from his grandmother. "I bet that when your older, girls will just line up to be around you," Rhea said. Ares scrunched his face up. "If I said 'eeew' right now, would that decrease my masculinity or something like that?" he asked. "Considerably," she replied. "Right!" Ares said. "Which is why I wouldn't dream of saying something like that," he added hastily. Rhea sighed. "Okay then, sweetie, I'll do something with you. It's really fun and it turns you brains on."   
  
"What, and I don't have my brains on?" Ares asked indignantly. Rhea ignored his statement. "Ares, listen to me. This is very important. I need you to remember these. They are vital to your protection. You know what my generation is like. As you know, I'm a titan as well - I just have the power to make myself smaller. My brothers and sisters plan to take over Olympus," she said.   
  
Ares gasped. "Why?" he asked, sitting bolt upright in bed. Rhea pushed him back down into the soft pillows. "I don't know, but I overheard the other titans that they are plotting against your parents - my children, Zeus and Hera - meaning that you are in danger too, as well as your elder sisters and your uncles and aunties. They might not attack for quite some time, but they are preparing to do battle. The clouds are gathering," she whispered soothingly.   
  
"What does 'the clouds are gathering' mean?" Ares asked, his childish curiosity taking over. "It means that they are gathering all of their forces together to get ready to fight. The attack could happen at any time. Now, I have a few little poems for you - rhymes, call it what you will - and I have to teach them to you. The power is concealed within the words. I am only going to give these words to you and nobody else," Rhea informed him and prodded his little nose when she said 'you' .   
  
"Why are you giving it to me? Why don't you just tell your children - my parents, uncles and aunties. I'm too young to defend Olympus by myself," he slowly looked depressed at the truth of his last sentence. Rhea shook her head. "You are more powerful than you think, Ares. I bet that when you are just passed six years old, and that's not very far, you will be one of the most powerful gods on Olympus. I reckon that one day, you just might rule Olympus after your father! You have the courage and bravery to defeat all," she said, appealing to her grandson's boyish pride.   
  
Ares lifted his head. "You really think so?" he asked excitedly. She nodded her head. "So if I were you, I'd spend as much time with your father as possible to learn about ruling and political stuff. Plus you should learn about armies and combat because they are very important too. Become knowlegible about these things and I bet you'd make a great King of the Gods," she advised. Ares grinned in delight.   
  
"Now, onto these rhymes," Rhea said. I'll go through each line and I want you to repeat them after me. Okay, sugar?" Ares nodded his head. Rhea began, "The world is driven by a will, blind and ruthless..." and she went on with many different phrases like that which sounded as if they should have been in Lao Ma's book, written thousands of years after the time that Ares was a child. The sentences were all in a tongue that only the Gods could understand. "Grandma, how am I supposed to learn this stuff?" Ares asked after they went through the phrases once.   
  
"We will practise them every night until you know them off by heart. How about that?" Rhea suggested. "Great!" he exclaimed. "Now, it is definitely time to go to bed!" Rhea said, her grandmotherly instincts showing through again. Rhea tucked him into his sheets. He began to protest but she cut him off. "Bedtime, mister. I honestly don't know why you hate sleeping so much," she shook her head.   
  
Ares had a perfect answer. "Gods aren't supposed to sleep! Our bodies are made to stay up though the night!" he said in a superior tone. "Adult Gods don't supposed to sleep. Immortal children do. Now go to sleep," Rhea said.   
  
Ares knew when he was defeated. "Yes, Grandma Rhea," he said quietly. A sound of horse hoofs stomping crept through the air. Rhea sat up. "That'll be your parents. Go to sleep. Goodnight honey," she said, rushing out the doors and closing them behind her before he could answer.   
  
Ares sighed. he got out from the sheets tightly pressed down on him and walked across the room to a certain candle. He took the burning flame off its holder and sat down to examine it. As Ares stared into the different colours of the singular flame, Ares began to think about what his grandmother had said. Will I really be that powerful? Can I become Olympus' major defense. Will I overthrow my grandfather Chronos and maybe steal the throne from father? Ares thought. "Yes I will," he said in a determined tone.   
  
Using telekinesis - a power he had only just learned to do - he set the candle back in its original location and picked up Rhea's hand mirror which she had accidentally left behind. Ares stared into his own reflection and rubbed his hand against his cheek. He couldn't believe that his grandmother firmly believed that he would be the ruler of Olympus. The little boy with the dark curls, brown eyes and button nose. He snickered at the thought of him sitting on his fathers throne with a big crown resting on his forehead.   
  
"But I will become the perfect ruler someday. The best damn ruler the Immortal family had ever seen!!! I will surpass Chaos, Uranus, Chronos, Zeus when he receives the throne. THEN ME!!!!" Ares laughed in delight. "I must learn to be a king first. And kings USUALLY got a good night sleep," he said and he ran back into bed and pulled the covers up to his nose. With a click of his fingers, most of the candles blew out. The others were kept alight - the future ruler still didn't particularly enjoy the dark....._   
  
"Ares. Time to get up," a soothing voice purred. Ares stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Xena was looking down at him. "For once, you are the last one up!" Xena said and pulled him up. Ares, still drowsy and amazed at the vividness of his dream, looked around to see if it was actually reality that he had just experienced. Eve, Gabrielle, Xena and Virgil were all staring at him. "Did you guys have the kind of dream that I had?" Ares asked. The others nodded excitedly.   
  
"The formula is already beginning to work!" Eve said leaning forward. "I remembered my first year or so of my life with Mum and Gabrielle. All the stuff with the Amazons and in Amphipolis and being babysat by Octavian and that time when Joxer got wounded with the swords of Apollo (:::Ares shrunk away at that certain point:::) and all sorts of stuff. It was amazing!!!" Eve exclaimed.   
  
Virgil got up and began to tend the fireplace. "I remembered all sorts of stuff about my parents and the little place we owned. Not much, but it was quite interesting," he said.   
  
Ares' wonder turned into annoyance. "You guys remembered tons of stuff. I only remembered one night!!!" he folded his arms. Gabrielle, who had already dressed and eaten but was trying to get back to sleep, looked up from her scroll and did her philosophical thing. "Your subconscious just gave you a hint of your memories. Your memories are a lot longer than ours because you've lived for waaaaay longer so you'll learn about your past soon. I assume you learned about the important stuff?" Gabrielle asked. The information dawned on Ares. "Wow!! I can get my powers back now!"   
  
"This I gotta see!" Virgil said, sitting down beside Eve.   
"Well, I better do this quickly. Caesar could turn up at any moment," he glanced to Xena. Eve eyes' shot up from the ground. "YOU DIDN'T TELL US JULIUS CAESAR WAS AROUND!!!!!" she said in a sharp tone. At a more quiet tone, she added "What's he like? Is he a spunk?!" Xena glared at her daughter. "Horrible! If you ever see him, you are in trouble - not from me but from him. Be careful!"   
  
Gabrielle had remained quiet. "So you mean he's back and could show up at any time?" she asked. Ares nodded his head. "Alright, I'm ready." he stood up. Xena, Gabrielle, Virgil and Eve sat together to watch what would probably be the equivalent of an incredible black-powder display. Ares took off the pendant and began to chant the words.   
  
  
Chapter 12   
  
Xena and her friends watched as Ares muttered the words, not sure what they were about to witness. None of them could understand what Ares was saying because it was in some strange language which sounded to them pretty much like gibberish. Ares, on the other hand, was having a very different time.   
  
Pulsing with excitement, Ares clenched his hand around the amulet as tight as possible and said the words as if he himself had made them up. Once he finished the passages, Ares opened his eyes and released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Nothing happened. Without moving his body, he glanced across the room. Ares got really annoyed. He knew that he must of looked like an idiot. All of a sudden, an agonising pain swept through his veins. Ares gasped as he was sent back into his memories.   
  
_The young boy, Ares, had all grown up. At one hundred years old, he was a completely changed man to what he was. He had experienced the harsh world at its worst. At six, he had helped his father and his grandmother defeat Chronos, who was Rhea's husband. From that he wore a little pendant around his neck at all times. Rhea had banished herself to Tartarus in guilt for betraying her husband and it had worked hard on Ares, regardless of whether she knew it or not. Ares had also led the Olympians to the defeat of the Titans and gained many many enemies and rivals. He now knew what life was like - all of its up's and down's - and he was ready to take it on at will and the official defense of Olympus.  
  
Now, as his first century turned, Ares would receive his position on Olympus as would everybody else. His parents, Zeus and Hera, now were King and Queen of the Gods. Ares' uncles, Hades and Poseidon, became God of the Underworld and Gods of the Sea. Now, Ares' generation would take their place in the Panthenon of Greek Immortals. Be on the lips of men for thousands of years. They would rule together in (hopefully) peace and harmony.   
  
The day came quickly. All of Ares' sisters, half brothers, half sisters, cousins and friends, attended a massive ceremony to claim their powers and titles. Ares sat with the others in the Great Hall on Mt. Olympus. They were all wearing formal clothes, which really annoyed Ares - he hated dressing up. The women made it even worse by talking for months about "What are you going to wear?" "Oh, that looks beautiful on you," "You have no idea how bizarre such and such will be wearing!" and the list went painfully on. To Ares' relief, it would all be over by the end of the day.   
  
"APHRODITE," Zeus' voice echoed throughout the silent hall. Aphrodite, who had been sitting next to Ares, excitedly hugged Ares tightly and whispered, "Wish me luck!" The pretty teenager clad in pink lace nervously walked up past the other gods and goddesses to where Zeus and Hera were sitting on their thrones. Hera glanced at Ares with a smug look that gave him the shivers. Zeus didn't seem to notice it. He beckoned the girl to come closer and she obliged. Holding up an olive branch, he said, "Aphrodite, you are now the Goddess of Love," and passed the branch to her. Ares could tell that she was surpressing a high pitched squeal of delight.   
  
All the Immortals went through the same process. When Ares was the last one, Zeus demanded that everyone but Ares had to leave. They went quickly - it was more than their lives were worth to object. Zeus allowed a few people to stay: Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Artemis and Apollo, only because he felt that they should witness what he was about to do. Ares realised that the elders and the most powerful gods were called forth.   
  
"Ares, come here," Zeus said sternly. Ares did as he was told. Zeus made a bowl of water appear. "Look into it," he commanded. Ares looked into the water and could see nothing but his reflection. The other gods formed a semi-circle behind him. "What am I supposed to do?" Ares asked, perplexed. "Watch," Hera answered with a grin forming across her face. Ares concentrated on the ripples of the bowl, not sure what was going on. Suddenly, his reflection disappeared and a horrific battle scene appeared in its place. Ares drew back as if it was a venomous snake. Aphrodite looked like she was going to scream. Ares suddenly realised what was happening. "You are going to make me the god of ... that?" he asked.   
  
Zeus nodded. "You have been selected to be the God of War, just as you've been training for," he said. Hera smiled comfortably. Ares knew that he would become a perfect weapon for his mother. Ares' brown eyes shot up to Zeus' . "I wanted to be god of WAR, dad! What you have given me is simply... massacre, brutality," Ares was lost for words. "This has no satisfaction. It is simply death. I might as well take Alecto's place - the Fury! War should not be this way! Who has the job that I wanted?" Ares demanded. Athena put her hand up. Ares looked at her in disgust.   
  
"You gave my power to my arch-rival?!?!?!?!" he yelled in disbelief. "It completely defies comprehension! I'm not cut out for this title. Please, give it to someone else and let me take another position. ANYTHING!!"   
  
"It's been finalised, Ares! Now stop this! Your position is one of the most powerful positions on Olympus. You are the official defence of Olympus," Zeus said irritably.   
  
Ares shook his head. "I cannot do this! I'm entirely the wrong person. I can barely kill, let alone reside over it!"   
  
Zeus smirked. "Well, it looks like you're gonna have to have a slight attitude adjustment!" Zeus said and snapped his fingers. Hades and Poseidon took Ares by both arms and held him tightly. "What are you doing?!?" Ares panicked. Aphrodite started to protest but Zeus turned a deaf ear to her cries. "Ares, it looks like you're gonna have to have a lot of practise with war. Take him away." and Hades and Poseidon disappeared with Ares. Hestia and Aphrodite ran to each other and together tried to get some information from the King of the Gods but failed miserably. Athena and Apollo laughed and disappeared too....   
  
All Ares could see was blackness. A solitary ray of light shone through a suddenly conjured window. Not much light, but enough to see hundreds of men in cloaks none the less. To Ares' discomfort, they all wore empty scabbards around their waists; the swords themselves were in their hands. Ares realised that he stood beside something cold and sharp. Ares bent to pick it up. It was a sword.   
  
One like no other. Fashioned by Hephaestus was his guess, with a beautiful jewelled hilt and a sharp blade about 58 centimetres in length. The force flowing through it was like nothing he'd ever felt before. The power gave off the effect that made you just want to kill something.   
  
Ares realised that this was a test. His pride vowed to the rest of his body that he would not kill. He would flaunt destiny, steal his fate from the hands of life and prove to his father that he was stronger than he realised. Unlike many gods, Ares had a conscience which told him what was right and what was wrong. If Zeus didn't like that, tough.   
  
Now, all he had to do was to protect himself from these men without killing. Ares knew it would be difficult. Ares was used to going into battle with nothing protecting him from danger but his sword. What really sucked was that Ares hadn't been given his powers yet, and sure he could do some things but not much.   
  
The lead guy walked up out of the darkness. He wore a thick cloak of red and black material over tight black leather pants. He had swarthy skin, a long nose, an exceptionally smug expression on his face and evil looking red eyes boring into Ares' eyes of brown, dull looking in comparison to the glowing eyes of the man before him.   
  
"Ares..." he hissed. All the men behind him whispered his name and soon it became a beating chant. Ares glanced at the sword in his hand and looked back up. Those guys were giving him the creeps. The whispers stopped abruptly. The leader spoke again. "Ares, how are you? I've always wanted to meet the ligitimate son of Zeus," he said and to Ares' surprise, he bowed to him. Ares briefly smiled a fake smile. "So, now that you've seen me, I can go, right?" Ares asked nervously.   
  
The leader snickered. "Oh please! We are under order of Zeus to teach you to be the God of War, not meet you!"   
  
Ares figured that he must look like a jerk so he lifted his head high, making him look stronger, in the way that only Immortals could do. "Who are you," he demanded , unwillingly letting his hereditary Immortal arrogance shine through.   
  
"Who am I?" the leader repeated. "We are the Corybantes! Who else?"   
  
Ares froze. The Corybantes were and ancient cult of ecstatic priests who usually lived on Mt. Ida, but obviously, they had sworn allegiance to Zeus and they did absolutely anything at Zeus' command. The Corybantes actually brought Zeus up. When Chronos received the throne, the other Titans let him stay there as long as he didn't have any male children, so whenever Rhea gave birth to a son, Chronos (wait for it) swallowed them. Rhea had enough and when Zeus was born, Rhea gave Chronos large stones to swallow and took the child to Mt. Ida and the Corybantes protected him. The Corybantes were wild and very dangerous.   
  
"Strange that you protected my father's life and are going to destroy mine," Ares said bitterly.   
"Destroy?" the Priest asked.   
"I'd rather die than be the God of War!!! I just want to be myself and how I choose to be. Is that to much to ask?" Ares said irritably. The priest ignored him. "It's about time we start then, now we have had our chat," he said and snapped his fingers.   
  
"Start what?" Ares looked around as they closed in.   
  
Ares opened his eyes. He was back to reality and happy to be there. Xena, Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil looked at him in worry. "Are you alright?" Xena asked. Ares breathed heavily. "I saw my past. About what happened when I first got my powers," Ares said quietly. Xena bit her bottom lip; she knew the story. By the look on Eve's face, she must have been told the story too. Gabrielle on the other hand, hadn't heard it. "Could you tell-" she began but Xena covered her mouth. "Gabrielle!" Xena scolded.   
  
"It was terrible to watch it happen again," Ares shivered. Virgil had no idea what was going on so he kept quiet. "I guess I should continue," Ares sighed and said the words. Once again, he went back into his memories...   
  
One hundred long years dragged by and Ares was still kept with the Corybantes. Ares hadn't a clue how long he had been in because the time he took was pure torture, and time slips by as you are struggling for your freedom. When the hundredth year went by, Ares was no longer Ares. He was pure evil. Killing was no problem. Ares could not stand with what he believed for that long.   
  
Ares looked around him one morning to see no one there. He immediately grabbed his sword, as had been routine over the years, and began to look for someone. Still, he was alone. For the first time in a very long time, he was actually in solitude. "Terrific!" Ares smiled a cold, calculating smile. Then, to his dismay, a person appeared in the room. "Ares, Zeus wishes to see you on Olympus in five minutes. He wanted me to say to you in these exact words 'get organised or you'll stay here for another one hundred years'," The person said. The guy was smaller than Ares was, with sandy blonde hair, brown eyes and he had small wings on his feet.   
  
"Hermes." Ares identified the person. "Long time no see." he was suddenly surprised. "I've been here for one hundred years? I'm two hundred now!" he said. "Tell 'daddy' that I'll be there, I've waited a long time to see him again, I'm gonna kick his royal ass and I can't wait to rip him apart."   
  
Hermes took a second to remember all that Ares said. "Goodbye. You can teleport when you are ready," he said and swiftly flew away on his wings. "Great," Ares muttered. "I can beat the life out of daddy, the lying, cheating, little worm of a bar-"   
  
"ARES!!!!! Move it!" the Corybantes' leader said to him, suddenly beside him.   
  
"Oh, for crying out loud," Ares said and picked up his bag full of weapons. Once he was organised, he pictured Olympus and disappeared.   
  
"You mean Ares is coming back?" Aphrodite asked excitedly. "Yes he is coming back." Zeus told her. Aphrodite squealed in delight and started asking everyone in the hall "Ares is coming back!!! Which dress should I wear? This or this?!"   
  
Zeus shook his head. His wife, Hera, who sat beside him on her throne, leaned over to Zeus and whispered, "I wonder what Ares is like now." Zeus shivered. "If his message meant anything, he is very angry and revenge-bent."   
  
"Okay, Immortals. Sit down!" he said. Everyone immediately obeyed. About five seconds later, the doors swung open and Olympus went silent. A very different Ares stood in the doorway. He wore a rugged tunic and held the sword he had in his hand. The amulet hung loosely around his neck. His body had changed too. Ares looked harder and stronger than before. He also had evidence of a deep wound in his stomach showing in a crimson colour underneath his clothes. He looked slightly older than he did in their last encounter.   
  
Although Ares had had one rough time over the years, it didn't change the fact that he was incredibly good looking. Discord, Thetis, Eos, Hebe, Hecate and many more goddesses would usually be drooling at that moment, if only Ares didn't show that look in his eyes; the deep, aluring but worn brown orbs showed all he had been through and all the hatred he had stored within that had the potential to break through the thin shackles Ares kept them in.   
  
The powerful image his eyes released was enough to make everyone in the whole hall (which was HUGE) quiver with fear, expecially Zeus and Hera. They both immediately regretted sending Ares away. The king and queen shifted uncomfortably in their thrones as their son's stare bore into their eyes.   
  
Ares held his head high and slowly walked into the middle of the room, directly on the top of a marble tile mosaic floor. He stopped and turned around to see what the place was like at that time. Ares dropped to the floor his sword and bag with a clang. "I'm home!" Ares purred his voice and laughed evily. "This is NOT Ares," Aphrodite whispered into Discord's ear. Discord nodded.   
  
Ares spun around again to face his parents. "Mum," he said in mock pleasure to Hera and bowed his head in 'respect'. Then he faced Zeus, grinned and said "Hi!!" Zeus was evidently worried. "Welcome, welcome home," Zeus stood and stammered. Ares payed no attention to him and walked around the place in silence. When he spoke, it was in a very cold voice. "Did you miss me, daddy?"   
  
"You know," he went on,"my head has been invaded with memories. Like the time when I basically saved Olympus' hide in the war against the Titans, and when I went on assignments to help Olympus and so forth." Zeus said loudly, "I'm sorry, son. I-" but was cut off. "Sorry? That's it? That's all I receive for being sent away - no, CAST away - when I deserved to at the least choose the direction of my life? I should kick your ass across the other side of the world!" Ares raised his voice angrily. "And I'm no longer your son and you are NOT my father. In case you didn't know, I had sooooo much fun being tortured slowly and painfully all these years," his voice was dripping with sarcasm.   
  
Zeus didn't have anything to say. Ares drifted back into his little mischevious way as he had before. "Well all I'm going to say is this: remember that time when I sprang you and 'what's her name' in my bathroom? That sort of affair would make a sailor blush with shame," Ares said, scoring Zeus an angry look from Hera and a slap across the face. Ares laughed mercilessly.   
  
"Not much has changed around here, people-wise. I mean, there has been a renovation in here and so has probably all of Olympus. There are many more gods and goddesses populating the world who are sitting in this room today. Then of course there is a time difference - you all must be grandparents or something by now! But all the people here haven't changed a bit; Zeus is still adulterous, Mum's still jealous, Athena still walks around being a b*&%$, Hestia still acts like an angel, Aphrodite still wears lingere' everywhere she goes and Apollo is still a few sticks short of a bundle. You must agree," Ares said.   
  
"Heading towards business, you now have the God of War that you wanted, which by the looks of you you don't like now, but nevertheless it is your fault. I want my godhood," Ares demanded. Zeus got up off his throne and quickly walked up to him, saying quietly, "Yes, yes, yes, of course."   
  
A scabbard appeared in his hands and he handed it to Ares. "You already have your sword of Godhood. You got it when you left - you have it in your hand. The doesn't flow out of itself until I give you its power, which I shall do." Zeus said to him. Ares examined the scabbard and fastened it to his waist. Then he took the sword and held it up in the air. Zeus murmured something and light came streaming out of the blade tip. The Immortals had to shield their eyes, and god's eyes were nearly invulnerable and twenty times better than mortals eyes.   
  
When the light subsided, Ares wore long, tight black leather pants, black boots, a black leather vest-like shirt and gauntlets. He wore a thick ring which identified him everywhere he went on his right hand. Ares sheathed the mighty sword. Zeus handed over a dagger as well which Ares tucked into an invisible pocket on the inside of his shirt. "Ares, you are now God of War." Zeus said.   
  
Ares looked at himself. "Well, I'm ready. I'll come to the Olympian Hall tomorrow, ready to take my rightful place. I just have a few things to get organised," Ares informed Zeus. Zeus nodded and returned to his seat. Ares was about to go but Zeus stopped him. "By the way, your palace is just as you left it. So are your quarters in the royal palace and the Halls of War."   
  
Ares turned around and said simply, "Good," and left in a sparkling white light. The Greek Gods exhaled in relief. "Dismissed," Zeus said and everyone began to leave, but no one was quicker than Aphrodite, who ran after Ares.   
  
Ares was already at his palace when she arrived. Ares lay down on his bed with his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Aphrodite rushed to his side with a swish of pink chiffon and lace. "Ares! Are you okay?" she asked over and over again in a concerned voice. Ares moved slightly to keep her hands off him. He rubbed his face over with his hands. "Oh, 'Dite, it was terrible," he said quietly, letting his former self slightly shine through. "Torture is a better word. The Corybantes were in that - that place I was detained. They sure know how to kill someones spirit."   
  
Aphrodite pulled him up and embraced him in a sisterly way. "Oh Ares, what did they do to you?" she asked.   
Ares gave her back her hands and got up to look out the window. Ares was fuming, Aphrodite could tell. "Stuff the Corybantes, Zeus did it to me. Not personally, but they were under his orders to ruin my life. How could a father do that to his son? I vow on the River Styx that if I ever have children, I would never do something like that to them. Not just to them but to everyone else too. I don't need to vow that, actually, because NO ONE does that!!" Ares said so quietly that a chill crept up Aphrodite's back. "Ares, what will you do now?" Aphrodite asked.   
  
"I will take my position as the God of War, as my father intended for me. I don't really have a choice." Ares held his face in his hands. "In a few months, I will have my vengeance. The time is not right to do anything about it right now."   
  
Aphrodite fell silent. She wasn't quite sure what to say and whether it would help comfort him in any way. "Well," Ares said, putting the earlier chat behind. "What's been going on around here while I've been gone? Has that guy asked out Thetis?"   
  
Aphrodite smiled at the excuse. "They got married at some time but they had a fight a few hours after the wedding and the divorced a few days later!"   
  
"Really? Cool. What about you?" Ares asked.   
  
"Not much. I got this girdle a few years ago," - she showed Ares the thick band of gold set around her hips - "Hephaestus made it for me. If I unclip it, anyone who looks at me at that moment won't be able to resist me," Aphrodite said. Ares nodded in approval. "Perhaps I might be able to borrow that occasionally!" He thought out aloud.   
  
"What about Discord and Deimos?" Ares asked, sitting down beside her.   
  
"Well, apparently Deimos has been trying to learn how to be a warrior although he couldn't stand a chance against a chicken, and Discord has had a kid named Strife by some guy which I'm not sure is even alive now. Anyway, Strife is the God of Mischief and Strife. He has an uncanny resemblance to Deimos as well and has pretty much the same brain capacity of Discord."   
  
"So she's still pretty much a slutty as she was the last time I saw her?"   
"Yep."   
"Great. I sure hope Strife won't be as pesky as his mother and Deimos."   
"Big time."   
"Well, I have to get some things organised for tomorrow. I obviously have allot of paperwork to go through and I'm gonna check up through the library and see what's happened over the last century."   
"See ya later bro. Don't let Zeus and your memories keep you down!" and with that, Aphrodite disappeared.   
  
"Well, I've got allot of planning to do if I'm gonna lead a coup against Olympus in a few months.." Ares thought mischieviously and headed towards the library._   
  
Ares opened his eyes once again. The group was still looking at him. "What was it that time?" Gabrielle asked.   
"My first day home from that place," Ares shivered unintentionally. Then without warning, a cloud of blue and purple light swirled out of the sword and soaked into his body. Then it exploded out again, sending rays of light everywhere so powerful that the gang was pushed to the ground. The almost cataclysmic effect on the temple made the walls shake on their foundations and it left Ares with the basic powers of a god.   
  
Ares turned around on the spot looking at himself, amazed that it had worked. Looking directly down, Ares watched his amulet glow in a deep red before the light faded away. "I got 'em!" Ares said happily. The little group cheered. Xena got up from her seat and came up to him. "I wonder what you can do now with the powers," she wondered. "Hera said that I'm not Immortal but if have a few powers. I'll check 'em out, see what I've got," Ares said and shifted his gaze to a brass jar sitting on a table. With a slight movement of his eyes it rose up into midair. He let it go and froze time except for the gang, then shattered it literally with a blink of an eye. After a few tests, Ares ended up having teleportation, telekinesis, instant conjuring, the ability to freeze time, stunning, shapeshifting, he could bring up fireballs and thunderbolts and could influence the weather.   
  
The others were quite impressed, especially Virgil because he had never seen such things occur as often as the others. Eve stretched her arms above her head. "Great. Now we have protection against Caesar..." she said a few seconds before the ground started to shake. Winds blew around and windows broke. "Speak of the Minotaur," Xena muttered and unsheathed her sword. Sure enough, Caesar appeared. Ares gritted his teeth as the burning sensation came on again because of the armor like it had the last time Caesar was there. "Well, well, well. You got your crummy little powers back, did you? Good. I've been bored out of my brains and majorly desperate for someone to match me in a fair fight. The only difference is that I'm more powerful than you and that I'm Immortal and you're not but that doesn't matter - let's dance!"   
  
Ares grinned a grin that said legibly 'I know something you don't know!' and unsheathed his sword. "I'd love to," and twirled the sword around his hand the way all good warriors like him and Xena etc do. Caesar angrily ran into Ares and forcfully slashed the sword at him. Ares returned the stroke and the sparks literally flew as the two swords belonging to the mighty opponants smashed against each other. As usual when two gods or powerful forms fight, the weather started to change into a raging thunderstorm.   
  
How the two fought was incredibly difficult to describe - violent, facinating and merciless are three pretty good words. They were both matched in power and fate would now decide the victorious winner. Indeed, destiny played with the pair as they viciously fought - one minute Ares seemed the inevitable victor and then Caesar strikes a move and he looks like he'll finish the battle in triumph. Then it would change again. Xena couldn't stand the torment of just watching and not doing anything so she would try to get up to help Ares but Ares would duck as Caesar lunged at him, turn in her direction and give her a very dirty, demanding look and Xena would sit back down and watch with fear of the worst. Caesar was annoyingly right - Ares owned the disadvantage. He could die; Caesar could not. Yet Ares had a look of determination permanently kept on his face, as if he was just toying around and playing games that he was certain to win. What it was was beyond Xena.   
  
Ares and Caesar locked swords in the shape of an 'X' with a deafening clash of metal. Each both struggled to overthrow the other for a few moments before Ares relaxed. He focused his eyes on the swords and curtly nodded towards the wall, making the swords (including his own) fly across to where Ares wanted them to go and they both got themselves stuck in the walls. Now that Ares had the element of surprise in his hands, he used them to his advantage and delivered a sharp kick to Caesar's head. Caesar sprang backwards onto his back. After a moment to get himself organised again, he got up and threw a punch at Ares which he caught easily, slammed it back into Caesar's face, flipped him over his back and elbowed his harshly in the middle of the shoulderblades. If Caesar was a mortal, his backbone would have probably snapped but he was Immortal so it only left him really breathless.   
  
For some reason that none of the gang understood, Ares waited for Caesar to pull himself together and attack. Caesar took it better than Ares thought and with a quick kick to sweep him off his feet, Ares was pinned to the ground by his opposition. Ares grinned confidently even though he was pushed to the floor. "For the record, I am NOT gay and I am quite surprised that you would be one - after all, you have had three or four wives!" Ares said, looking with repulsion at the two arms at his shoulders. Caesar immediately jumped up and set him free. Ares laughed and with one swift movement, Caesar lay flat on his face nervously looking at Ares standing in front of him and the very sharp looking sword in his hand which he retrieved from the wall. "It seem's you've underestimated me Caesar. I'm stronger than you figured, am I not?" Ares asked slyly.   
  
Caesar didn't reply. He couldn't think of a good payback line. "AM I NOT STRONGER THAN YOU FIGURED!?!?!?!?" Ares yelled and put the point of his blade directly at the meeting of the collar bones in the middle of the upper chest. Caesar yelped in fright and said "Yesyouarestrongerthaniexpectedares!!!!" in one word. "Thank you very much Caesar. You are most kind!" Ares said. "But to tell you the truth, I have had enough of you and this whole thing about my family. It is a very stupid subject and all it brought was pain and death. I have changed from the man I was and have seen a new light to life. I am sick of this bloodshed.... and turn to mercy," Ares said and withdrew his weapon.   
  
Caesar rubbed his neck and stood up. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" He said over and over again. Caesar went to grab his water flask from the belt around his waist but instead backhanded Ares across the face and tied him to the floor with laser bolt rope in about two seconds. Ares tried to break free of his shackles but failed. Caesar laughed. "Fool! Did you really think I could go down that easily?! Well, I won't spare your life as you foolishly did mine!"   
  
Ares smiled. "You've forgotten one major detail."   
"Like what?"   
"You are wearing the armor of the gods."   
"So?"   
"My amulet and a few magic words destroy the armor and its owner at the time."   
"And?"   
"I'm wearing my amulet and I know those little words...."   
  
_A little boy about five or six in a short blue tunic and a man about thirty-two years old ran together through the forest. Both of them had black curls, brown eyes and a dagger wrapped around their waists. The thickly covered forest stretched on for what seemed like forever but they went on. "RUN ARES!!!!" the man said to the boy. The boy didn't need to be told twice. He quickened up his pace to match his fathers. Being a titan's lunch was not particularly how he wanted to finish his life off. Especially if Grandad Chronos was holding the knife and fork. "I AM RUNNING FATHER!!!" he yelled back.  
  
Ares' father, Zeus, fell over a branch and delayed them for a moment. A moment that they had needed. Chronos emerged from the trees. "Aha! They you are my son!" he said refering to Zeus. Zeus automatically flung his arm and Ares unwillingly shot into the air like a arrow from a crossbow about fifty feet high. As he fell back down, he grabbed a treebranch and hoisted himself up to get a look at the fight going on at the bottom of the clearing between his father and his grandfather. He noticed that Chronos was wearing a strange set of armor with intricate carvings that even he knew symbolised protection and invulnerablility (Ares loved the Olympian Library and was glad as Tartarus that he spent allot of time in there).   
  
Then he saw his father reach for a little trinket from his leather bag, shaped into a sword. His father hesitated. "What are the words?!?!?!?!?!" he yelled to himself. Ares realised that the information that could save his father and all of his family was in his hands. Zeus screamed in frustration and slammed the talisman into the dirt. He drew a strange circular sword Ares recognised as the Adamantine Sickle and tried to use that against Chronos but unless the armor was destroyed or at least weakened, Zeus' plan was hopeless. Ares suddenly felt a wave of courage and swung down from the treetops on a huge vine, dropped down from it, picked up the amulet and held it up at Chronos. "Astempo des sevanga!" he screamed at the top of his voice, roughly translated as "Believe that favour will protect the innocent!"   
  
Chronus howled in agony as the armor exploded and all his power converted to weakness. Barely alive, Chronos lay on the forest floor staring off into space. Zeus walked up to him and stabbed him with the Sickle in the stomach, killing him instantly.   
  
A few hours later, all of his family found out about Ares and Zeus. A huge celebration was set up to honour them. They both sat beside each other on thrones in the Great Hall, which had been decorated with bright colours. Everyone was there. Father and son wore long matching silk tunics and folded drapes. Zeus stood up and announced to the hall of Immortals : "Ladies and Gentleman! Immortals! Lend me your ears. We are no longer kept under the rule of the tyrant Chronus!!! I will now take the throne of the gods. Thanks especially to my third eldest son, my dear Ares. Without his bravery and strength, I would not be here today and Chronos would still be here inprisoning us. How about a loud applause for our hero - Ares!!!!"   
  
Ares beamed with pride. He certainly felt like a hero. Grandma Rhea was right. He was more powerful than he thought. When the claps subsided, Zeus continued: "As a token of my undying gratitude towards my six year old son, I declare on the River Styx that Ares is now my true, rightful heir to the throne when I cannot perform my duties as king!" A ripple of applause broke out again. Ares was speechless and was now doubting his own sanity and ears. But it was not a misunderstanding. Zeus picked up a wreath of olive leaves and carefully placed it on his head (as was tradition). Then Zeus picked up a pendant and placed it around his neck. It was the amulet he had used to defeat Chronos. It was been laced onto a thin black chain and 'Ares' had been engraved into the back.   
  
Hera moved up to him, kissed him on the cheek and murmured something. The talisman glowed red. "Only you can have this. Anyone else who has it without your permission, Immortal or mortal, shall die in an instant," she whispered and he nodded, understnading its power. Then suddenly the information drained from him. Hera raised an eyebrow to her husband. "Now it can not go against me." Zeus explained to Hera under his breath. Ares yawned, not knowing the significance of the pendant around his neck. "I think I need to go to bed. I've had a long, long day." Ares said and disappeared in a blue light._   
  
Ares opened his eyes and grinned at Caesar's horror. "And those little words are: " he said, taking off his amulet and slamming it hard into Caesar's hand, making a burned outline on his skin. "Astempo des sevanga!" History repeated itself. Caesar screamed loudly as the armor came off and slowly destroyed his inner self. Caesar lay limply on the floor, barely breathing. "And d'ya know what, Gaius Julius Caesar? Like Xena, I have the power to kill gods too!" Ares smirked at him and brought down the sword. Caesar groaned softly and disappeared without a trace.   
  
Virgil, Eve and Gabrielle simultaneously poked their heads out from underneath the pile of blankets they had been hiding in. "He's gone!" Gabrielle whispered to the other two.   
  
Xena didn't waste any time to congratulate the winner. She got up off her position and raced to Ares. Ares dropped his sword and accepted her hug. "Thanks for saving me, my daughter and my best friend again, Ares," she whispered to him. "Thank you for helping me," Ares answered. Xena smiled and kissed him.   
  
Gabrielle walked up to them after helping out Virgil and Eve and said, "Well, that's twice you've heroicly saved the day. You know what? I'm gonna shout everyone dinner tonight!"   
  
  
The five of them all left Knossos the next day after having breakfast and saying goodbye to Salmonious. Xena, Ares, Gabrielle, Virgil, Eve and the two horses were all talking loudly and having a good time as the travelled to their new destination, Amphipolis. "So,Virgil," Ares said "you gonna stay and travel with us for a while?"   
  
"No. I'm going to go back home to Rome and stay with my mum. Help out at the tavern and stuff. Be with my family."   
"You should go home to Meg. She's a good woman, that girl. Take care of her," Xena said. Virgil grinned. "I will," he said and said goodbye as he left the group.   
  
"Well, this has been a very interesting month or so. I mean, Mum and Ares went to the underworld; Caesar came back from the dead; we spent one hundred dinars on spices; Mum, Ares and Gab became reacquainted with Salmonius and I met him for the first time; we witnessed a guy getting the powers of a regular god, which was really cool; and we all saw our pasts. All that doesn't usually happen in such a short time." Eve said. Gabrielle nodded in agreement.   
  
"Oh yeah, I thought of an awesome name for my horse!" Gabrielle remembered.   
"Really? You mean you actually decided to not be so stubborn and choose? You're getting less irritating, ya know that?" Ares said teasingly.   
"Oh, shut up Ares!" she said playfully. Xena chuckled.   
"What is it then, Aunty Gab?" Eve asked impatiently.   
  
"ANDROMEDA!!" she said bursting with enthusiasm.   
  
"You've decided to name your horse after some damsel in distress who Perseus saved from a great big monster?" Ares asked incredulously.   
  
"Why not? 'Andromeda' was an incredibly beautiful princess, just like my horse, aren't you my precious baby?" she cooed at the brown horse. Ares eyes rolled to the sky. "Whatever you say, irritating blonde," Ares mumbled. Gabrielle looked as if she was about to thump him. "knock it off the pair of you!" Xena said.   
  
"Fine then, my shining light," Ares said and changed the subject. "So what else should I call you, Gabrielle, other than annoying little blonde or blondie?"


End file.
